Mononoke: Black Magic Horror Tales
by Saturnalius
Summary: Following the encounter with the Nue, the nameless medicine seller continues his quest to put mononoke to rest while uncovering their truth, form, and reason underneath the horrors that humans can commit. Seems like normal work until he suddenly acquires an apprentice. Warning: This story contains the same dark, twisted tones and human atrocities the anime does.
1. The woofing cough

_Warning: This story contains the same dark, twisted tones and human atrocities the anime does. If you could not handle the dark tones of the anime, this story may not be for you. If it is, I invite you to join me for the adventure!_

He barely stood out against the colorful gardens lining the outskirts of the large estate. It was spring, the rains pouring down and bouncing off his red paper umbrella. His wooden geta shoes clicked against the stone walkways as he followed the short, panicked woman in a drab brown kimono. He rarely was called out and invited to go some place, usually showing up uninvited when a mononoke began to show signs of manifesting in the human world. This time he'd simply been passing through, unable to sell his wares due to a strangely large population of stray mongrels in the area.

"This way, Mr. Medicine Seller!" the woman beckoned him further inward in the estate, past the flowering gardens and the fragrant cherry trees. "No one else would come here, but the mistress is sick."

"Oh?" He glanced around at the lavishness of the estate. They were rich enough to afford not one but two high-reaching walls with bamboo roofs and two very large gates. Just simple business from here could fund his travels for a year. "I do wonder why that is."

"The mongrels," the woman scoffed. "They've been coming around far too much, foraging everywhere. They're scaring off the traders. I wish they'd leave."

The medicine seller glanced to the side, watching as the mongrels ducked behind the bushes. "I see." He followed the woman inside, leaving his geta at the front door to continue the walk in tabi-socked feet along the wooden floor boards. The boards chirped as he walked along them. Samurai and noble houses often had chirping floor boards to ensure that ninja didn't sneak in unnoticed, but this house was nestled in a rather small town belonging to a small family that no one in town seemed to want to talk about. Perhaps they were afraid of something else trying to sneak in unnoticed.

He glanced out into the courtyard as they traveled along the wooden walkway. It was a serene Japanese garden typical of larger houses. A small pond framed by pine and cherry trees, several small stone lanterns, and a single stone bridge. Koi likely swam in the pond just beneath the surface.

The next walkway offered the view of a rock garden. The sand had been meticulously raked in zen patterns, weaving around stones and rocks. One particular location appeared to be disturbed and dug. It looked like the work of a mongrel digging in the sand around a rock that didn't look like it belonged. The rock looked rather ordinary, but unlike the other rocks, it was tall and skinny and cracked on the side. The setting of stones in a rock garden were very important, so that cracked one just looked out of place.

"This way, Mr. Medicine Seller," the woman beckoned him forward. "The lady of the house is in pretty bad shape."

"So you have said," he commented.

He peered at the back of her drab kimono as she suddenly stopped on the walkway. Her hair was pulled up in various bumps and knots and finished off with hair sticks that didn't seem to match the rest of her attire color-wise. The ornaments on the hair sticks clinked as she stopped, her demeanor indicating nervousness.

"I probably shouldn't have dragged you all the way out here," she apologized.

He watched her carefully, curious about the sudden change. The entire walk from the center of town, through the gardens, and into the house had been nothing short of insistent urgency. Now she showed doubt. "Why so?"

The woman tensed up, her shoulders raised just slightly. "I don't think it's sickness. I think it's a curse."

The medicine seller had picked up some chatter around the town about the household that the family had been the source of the mongrel problem in the town. Some even dared to mention onmyodo. Magic. Often times onmyodo used by most people were just illusions or fancy talk, but there were times when magic truly did permeate the human realm.

Perhaps this visit _would_ be interesting.

"Tsuya! Don't scare away the medicine seller!"

The woman in the drab kimono tensed up as an older woman in a red kimono decorated with brilliant blue flowers shouted at her down the hallway.

"I'm sorry, Miss Fusa," Tsuya apologized, bowing repeatedly.

"You may find it takes more to frighten me than simply mentioning a curse," he admitted. "Perhaps some amulets would help."

Fusa approached, practically pushing the younger Tsuya to the side as she beckoned him forward. Perhaps this one could actually help, unlike the rest of them that just scampered off, frightened by the rumors of onmyodo. "You're an interesting one."

"There is nothing interesting about me," he quickly countered, following the older woman.

As they continued down the hallway, a few servants had peeked out of the various side rooms, all in single-color kimono. He quickly realized he was the only man in the entire house.

Fusa knelt down outside a closed paper shoji door. "Lady Inu, I have brought a medicine seller."

"Come," the meek reply barely passed through the paper door.

Fusa reached to the side, pushing the paper door open gently with her hand.

Setting the medicine chest on the ground, he sat politely on his knees as well, minding his manners as a member of the merchant class. He made a note of the lady's name. It meant dog, likely indicating she was born in the year of the dog, but it seemed more like an amusing coincidence with all the mongrels roaming around the town.

A small smirk curled the edge of his lips as he offered a polite bow to the lady within.

Lady Inu was accompanied one woman in particularly formal attire who was gripping Lady Inu's hand with a concerned expression. A relative or other noble, the medicine seller reasoned. The lady herself was laying in the center of the room on a futon, her hand clutched to her chest.

He picked up the chest of medicine, carrying it across the tatami straw mats. The lady's room was decorated with murals of cranes stalking around ponds, surrounded by reeds and small birds in the trees. It seemed like a rather serene scene at the edges of the room despite the worry and panic at its center.

The kneeling lady seemed to watch him intently as he set the chest down on the tatami, kneeling in front of it. He paid her no mind. His intent was to sell his wares and to learn the source of the supernatural sense that was itching at the back of his mind. He hooked a finger around the drawer handle, pulling out a mortar and pestle and placing it on the mat.

"What are you doing there?" the kneeling lady demanded.

The medicine seller glanced towards the door, hearing Tsuyu huff emphatically before returning his attention back to the case of medicines. "Lady Inu is having chest pains, is she not? This is an ancient Chinese remedy that helps loosen tight chest muscles." He glanced at the kneeling lady for a moment. She seemed less than pleased with his presence. Hopefully this one wouldn't try to throw him in jail like the last one. He'd rather avoid that again, even if the last time had lead him to put another mononoke to rest.

"Tori, please," Lady Inu squeezed the kneeling lady's hand. "Everyone else has refused to help us… I need-" She cut herself off with a sudden coughing fit.

The medicine seller glanced at her. That wasn't a normal-sounding cough. It almost sounded like she was barking instead of coughing. Carefully, he pulled a few pinches of herbs from the drawer, dropping them into the mortar as that supernatural sense pulled at him again. Herbs likely wouldn't help with this situation, if his senses were right.

He paused in his work as he heard Tsuya outside shouting at one of the mongrels, "_Shoo! Get out of here!_" followed by the sounds of growling and a broom being smacked against a wooden railing.

"Fusa!" Tori hissed. "I thought you fixed this mongrel problem!"

"My apologies, Lady Tori," the older woman bowed respectfully. "It seems they've found a way to hop the walls."

She nearly leapt at the sound of something clamoring down the hallway. A mongrel passed the door, followed by Tsuya pulling up her kimono with one hand and brandishing a broom in the other. The medicine seller nearly snickered at the scene but there was definitely something odd about the large mongrel population. Sure they roamed about sometimes in the more rural locations, but this number was a bit too large for a normal pack. They were attracted to something here within the compound so intently that they would jump walls.

Something _was_ here.

Tsuya stumbled back to the door, broom in hand, her kimono and hair a bit of a mess. She straightened out her kimono before offering a bow. "I got the last of them out."

"Don't act so proud," Tori snapped.

"I… I'm sorry, Lady Tori," Tsuya apologized.

"Miss Tsuya, I could use your assistance," the medicine seller interrupted, beckoning the young servant forward. There was something roaming the halls more than just the wild mongrels that kept getting in. It was best to keep everyone centralized while he tried to figure out what could be out there.

"Me?" she questioned. When he nodded, she propped the broom up against the wall, shuffling over to the medicine seller and dropping to her knees next to him. She stared at the mortar as he dropped it in her hands. "What's this?"

"Chest relaxant," he replied. "It requires time to cure." He pulled open another drawer, pushing aside a few herbs.

"More stuff?" Tori scoffed. "What else are you putting in there?"

He didn't bother looking at her this time. She was being very confrontational. "Just a bit of flavoring. The remedy is terribly bitter." He poured some of the liquid into the mortar, letting it mix in with the medicine. He glanced at Lady Inu as she began coughing like a dog barking once again. "This will help relieve the symptoms, but it's not the cure. This sickness isn't curable by medicines."

"It's a curse, isn't it?" Tsuya yelped but quickly clamped a hand over her mouth with her free hand.

"Not a curse, no," he replied. "A mononoke."

**...**

**Author's musings**

The start of an adventure! This takes place in the Edo era shortly after Nue story and before the time skip into the Meiji era. I always got the impression that he had a supernatural sense about him and that's what attracted him to certain places.

I do wonder what mononoke the medicine seller will encounter this time!


	2. Unnatural howls

"M-m-m-m-mononoke?!" Tsuya exclaimed. "What's that?!"

"Unnatural spirits borne of strong negative human emotions," he replied. Pointing a finger at the open shoji door, he forced it shut with a simple swipe of his finger.

"H-how did you…." Tsuya dropped the mortar full of medicine.

The medicine seller caught the mortar with his hand before it reached the ground, placing it back in her hands. He stood up, opening the top section of the medicine chest to reveal a box with a rather ornate sword in it.

"What do you think you're doing, medicine seller!" Tori screeched.

"Stopping the mononoke from entering," he replied, withdrawing his left hand towards him as ofuda papers peeked through his fingers. He prepared to set up a barrier to halt the mononoke, but Lady Tori had leapt over the sick Lady Inu to grab at him. She wound her arm around his tightly, preventing him from moving.

"How dare you come in here with a _sword_ claiming that some nonsense spirit has appeared!" Tori screeched. "Are you just trying to get more money, you lowlife merchant?!"

He gritted his teeth a bit, his fanged tooth barely visible at the edges of his lips. This was never an easy thing, especially when dealing with the upper classes. Sure, he was of the lowest social class, but they didn't have to insult his integrity. He considered shaking her off, but he'd rather not end up dragged out by the authorities again. Given the urgency of the situation, it likely wasn't the worst result.

His thoughts were quickly jarred by an unnatural howl echoing through the halls followed by heavy footsteps and bone-shaking growls. It was here, stalking the hallways. He hadn't had a chance to set up any barriers yet. This likely wouldn't end well.

"W-wh-what's that?" Tsuya stammered.

The medicine seller watched the door cautiously as he attempted to carefully shake off Lady Tori and not knock over Tsuya and the medicine sitting nearby. What a predicament to be in.

The shoji door suddenly slid open and the entire doorway was filled with a black and white essence completely with glaring red eyes and large fanged teeth. Lady Tori quickly released the medicine seller, stumbling backwards with an unholy scream as she tripped over Lady Inu.

The essence leapt forward, but the medicine seller quickly intervened. He held the sheathed taima sword out before him, repelling the attack and keeping the essence at bay. "What are you? What is your reason for being angry?"

The essence replied with a deafening howl. The medicine seller could feel its breath on his arm now exposed with the kimono sleeve pushed back. It seemed like some sort of dog mononoke but there were so many that he couldn't yet put a finger on it. Perhaps this was what the mongrels were seeking, this angry growling mononoke that was now trying to invade the room.

"Get back!" he shouted at it. With a bend of his elbow, he pushed the sheathed taima sword forward, forcing the mononoke back out the door and into the hallway. With a swipe of his hand, he forced the door closed even at his distance from it, plastering the walls with protective paper ofuda. Black writing overtook them, transitioning into red with an open eye pattern before returning black then empty.

He carefully watched as the ofuda reacted, following the mononoke's path until all the ofuda were once again empty. That was one angry mononoke. This would require some delicate setup to ensure it didn't get in before he could slay it properly and let it rest.

Arching his finger in almost a beckoning like movement, the bottom drawer opening in a silent command. Tsuya nearly dropped the mortar but remembered it held precious medicine for her lady's sickness.

A single silver scale floated out of the drawer, landing on his finger.

"What's that?" Tsuya questioned.

Same question, every time. It was as if not a single person in the entire country had seen a scale before. Yet somehow, even with the repeated question, it still amused him. "A scale."

With the scale now balancing on his finger, he neared the now-barricaded door, listening to the noise beyond it. Silence, as he expected. The mononoke had left once again. It was prowling, likely hunting, trying to fulfill its grudge.

Carefully, he hooked a finger around the shoji door, sliding it open. Nothing in the hallways but a handful of scratch marks along the walls and floor. It definitely had taken some form of a dog.

Tsuya watched him, clutching the mortar. Lady Tori did nothing but glare at him. Fusa was more focused on Lady Inu's condition, though she looked like she would faint at any moment.

With a flick of his finger, the scale lifted up, landing outside along the doorway and lowering its bells. With a silent command, several more scales lifted from the medicine chest and he placed them just outside the door and down the hallway. He would've liked to place more but he could feel the tension seeping down the hallway, possibly from the mononoke but more likely from Lady Tori behind him.

With the scales now in place, he slid the shoji paper door shut again and resealed it. He turned, tucking the taima sword into his obi and returning to kneeling next to Lady Inu. He reached for her, only to be intercepted once again by Lady Tori. That fear sure washed away quickly.

"Don't you touch her," Lady Tori threatened.

"She cannot swallow the medicine laying down," the medicine seller stated sharply. "She could choke." Even with the threat of a mononoke, he still had his duty as a medicine seller to attend to. He had to make a living somehow.

"I don't trust a merchant with a sword!" the lady hissed. "What are you planning to do with that thing?"

"I use it to kill." He couldn't necessarily blame her. Only the samurai class was allowed to carry a sword and he was four classes below that at the very bottom. It surprised everyone that he carried a sword, but he honestly had it only for one reason. To kill one thing. "Mononoke."

Lady Inu placed a hand on his sleeve, grabbing at it meekly. "You can…. kill that thing?"

She was definitely the more reasonable of the two, he quickly understood. "When I learn of its form, truth, and reason, I can." He peered at her arm peeking out of her kimono sleeve. With his free hand, he pushed the sleeve up her arm a bit. Her skin was covered in shallow wounds that looked akin to scratches. "Do you have a pet dog?"

Lady Inu peered up at him then at her arm. "I don't… where did those scratches come from? They don't…. They don't even hurt. My chest does. My feet do."

"What do you mean this form, truth and reason?" Lady Tori demanded.

"Sister, please," Lady Inu chided her. "He's trying to help us….. All the rest ran away because of the mongrels."

The mongrels. They were definitely key to this whole situation. He reached towards the medicine chest for some ointment for the wounds, only to be quickly swatted away by Lady Tori once again. She really wanted to get rid of him, while Lady Inu only wanted him to help to get better. Tsuya still gripped the mortar in panic, unsure of what to do.

He placed the free hand back in his lap, not shaking the lady's hand off his sleeve. "The form is the shape and the type of mononoke which has transcended into the human world." It definitely had something to do with the mongrels and the sickness Lady Inu was suffering. "Its truth is how it came to be. What caused it to be born into this realm? What is its reason for its anger?"

"That all sounds like supernatural babble," Lady Tori scoffed.

"It's a curse," Tsuya stammered. "It's definitely a curse."

The symptoms of the sickness all were familiar. Tsuya likely wasn't that far off, though the source wasn't human as she likely assumed. Not directly at least. The mononoke was borne of human emotions but it takes on its own life and form. Its reasons and grudges may have originated in humanity, but its actions were its own.

Lady Inu grasped the medicine seller's sleeve once more. "Curse or not, please give me the medicine."

"Inu!" Lady Tori fussed.

"Sister, please," Lady Inu countered, "I can't take this anymore. The symptoms…. They're getting…." she interrupted herself with barking-like coughing. "Ever since…. Ever since…. He….."

"Inu!" Lady Tory fussed again.

Lady Inu was definitely on the verge of admitting something when the growling once again echoed through the room. The medicine seller turned, watching the ofuda light up as a means to protect them from the mononoke. The bells rang out on the scales as they tracked the mononoke's position and its prowl back and forth in front of the room before it left once again.

He watched as the ofuda returned to empty once again. "I believe this is an inugami." The sword chattered in confirmation.

Tsuya nearly leapt as the face on the sword tucked into his obi _moved_.

The medicine seller reached out, catching the bowl of medicine she had dropped in surprise. "These barriers won't last forever. I need you to tell me _everything_."

**...**

**Author's notes**

So the mononoke finally reveals itself! There are so many dog and wolf yokai in the creepy haunts menagerie I've found in research, but this one is an inugami! Finding out the 3 truths of this mononoke isn't going to be easy with Lady Tori countering every move the medicine seller tries to make. At least he put up some barriers.

In writing this, I had to research quite a bit on the Edo era. It's an era defined by a rigid class systems where merchants are on the bottom. They were often deemed as shady and untrustworthy, which is where the bad reputation stems. Only the samurai class was allowed to have swords, so the medicine seller possessing a taima sword is highly suspicious!


	3. Inugami

Inugami were often borne of black magics, of onmyodo, created by the most cruel and unnatural means. They had been banned from society since the Heian period, but that didn't stop people from attempting to create them. Normally they were familiars, a dog-like yokai that often lived in storehouses in water pots. Yet here was an inugami, roaming the hallways with the ire of a mononoke and a grudge against one of those gathered within the room, if not all of them. He glanced at each of them, wondering which one it could be.

Fusa helped prop up Lady Inu, despite the fussing and hissing from Lady Tori. Tsuya helped hold the bowl while Lady Inu drank the medicine.

Lady Inu wrinkled her nose at the taste. "So bitter."

"That will help reduce the tightness in your chest to make it easier to breathe," the medicine seller explained. "The symptoms will not go away until the inugami is slain and its ire is quelled."

"This is all nonsense!" Lady Tori shouted at him. "It's because of people like _you_ that she's sick! You just create diseases and creatures so you can just get more money!"

"I believe that you invited me here _after_ she became sick," he retorted snidely.

"How dare you!" Lady Tori hissed. "This is why I wanted a _woman_ medicine seller!"

He watched her unfazed by her screaming. It was pretty typical for a noble household, honestly. Blame the merchant who had come to help. At times he did have a rather sharp, insolent tongue when he got annoyed, which probably didn't help the situation. If it hadn't been for the mononoke, he likely would've sold some medicines and left.

Yet as she shouted at him, she was holding some truth back. She was resisting saying something but that last statement was pretty incriminating.

"Do you hate men?" He stared at her intently.

She stared back at him with a fury in her eyes. She definitely didn't want him here, and now he was prying into her history in an attempt to find the reason for the inugami's ire.

"It all happened with Lord Akimitsu!" Tsuya blurted out.

"Tsuya!" Lady Tori screeched.

"Lord Akimitsu?" the medicine seller repeated.

"He used to always care for the mongrels in the area, but then suddenly he died!" Tsuya babbled on. "There were only a few then, but there was always fighting about them in the house when they thought we weren't listening! After that, the mongrels just kept showing up and now they're overrunning the town!"

"Tsuya! I will have you fired!" Lady Tori hissed.

Tsuya began to sob loudly in response, quickly clamming up.

"Sister, please," Lady Inu pleaded with her. "Akimitsu's death was hard on all of us. It was so sudden and unexplained."

"Oh?" Something about this Akimitsu was key here, he quickly reasoned. Everyone wanted to speak about it but Lady Tori seemed to be the factor preventing them from doing this. She would certainly hinder him in his investigation of the inugami that was terrorizing the place, but everyone would talk eventually, especially faced with an angry mononoke.

But Lady Tori would absolutely be a troublesome one. Even after facing the inugami, she still stubbornly threatened everyone and refused to let him know any information. Regardless, he continued to pose the questions necessary to put the mononoke to rest. "How did he die?"

"He was found one morning leaning over the body of a dead mongrel in the rock garden," Fusa answered for them.

The medicine seller glanced at Lady Tori for a second, observing her reaction. The lady was intently glaring at him in return as if her stare could literally kill him or send him back to where he'd come from.

Fusa's response lined up with what he'd observed when he first arrived at the place. There were scratch marks disturbing the rock garden, mostly surrounding the cracked rock at the far end. The mongrels had definitely been there. "Was he buried in the rock garden?"

"He was… buried on the hillside," Lady Inu replied with short breaths. "It was where the… the mongrels liked to gather there….. He always favored them."

The medicines weren't doing much to affect Lady Inu's condition. While she did exhibit signs of an inugami possession, medicines should be able to at least lessen the effects. The mononoke was stronger than he'd expected. He reached forward to place a seal on her body but was quickly thwarted by Lady Tori once again. She was really becoming a hindrance, and there was something about her touch that bothered him. He couldn't quite put a finger on it just yet. "Do you want her to suffer so?" he bore his teeth at her.

Lady Tori stared incredulously at him as she noticed the hint of fangs at the back of his lips. "Just what are you?"

"Just a humble medicine seller," he responded, shaking his hand free of her grip. Pulling an ofuda from his sleeve, he placed it on Lady Inu's kimono above her heart. As the ofuda paper activated and displayed the black then red mystic writing, the lady's breathing finally began to stabilize.

Lady Inu breathed deeply, finally able to catch her breath and not cough barks. She hadn't quite released the medicine seller's sleeve from her grip. Still holding onto him like she would suddenly fade away if she let go. "Akimitsu was our elder brother, the head of this household before his death. He cared for us so much."

"As if," Lady Tori scoffed. "He only cared about those mutts and screwing around."

"He was stern, but he kept our house prosperous," Lady Inu insisted. "He made sure we were always cared for financially. Without him, this house would wither like it's doing now."

"You were always blind, Sister," Lady Tori pointed out sharply. "We can run this house just fine without greedy men like him."

"He always shared with us," Lady Inu insisted some more.

"And kept the most for himself and his band of samurai!" Lady Tori screeched. "He could care less about us after father died! He just wanted everything for himself like a damn spoiled brat!"

So there had been samurai here. That explained the squeaking floor boards typical of a samurai house. It likely had been the same since the warring era, trying to warn the lord and his samurai of a potential ninja attack. Ninja weren't exactly his concern at the moment as there was something far worse lurking about the house. "What happened to the samurai?"

"That's none of your business!" Lady Tori pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You're like them, all of them! Just a greedy bastard wanting more money!"

It was all becoming clear. Her ire for men, her accusations that he wanted to squeeze them for more money, why all the servants were only women. She believed that all men were inherently greedy and evil. "What truly happened to Lord Akimitsu?"

The lady seemed on the verge of snapping which either meant she would clam up or start screaming at him. With the way she was acting, he began to suspect that Akimitsu's death wasn't an accident at all and that Lady Tori was somehow involved in it.

She reached across Lady Inu and backhanded him. _That_ wasn't quite the response he expected.

"Mr. Medicine Seller!" Tsuya exclaimed.

Standing up, Lady Tori stepped over her sister and grasping the medicine seller's kimono with both hands at the collar and bringing him up to his feet. "Insolent man!" she hissed at him.

He wasn't much taller than her without his geta, but she was tall enough to shout nearly in his face. He'd been manhandled before but never quite like this. Something about her grip on his kimono sent his senses into a tangled mess. The woman was definitely human and he was quite certain that she wasn't a _second_ mononoke to contend with. But something about her touch felt unnatural.

"Tori, please stop!" Lady Inu begged her sister. "He's just trying to help!"

"Nonsense!" Lady Tori spat, shaking the medicine seller by his kimono collar. "He's just like them! He's like all of them!"

"Sister, be reasonable!" Lady Inu reached for her sister, but the stress she'd endured by the sickness had caused her to collapse and fall short. Fusa helped support her fallen lady. "Something happened to Akimitsu to cause all of this! If we can just find out and try to stop the mononoke from destroying what we have left of this house!"

He felt like they were on the verge of the truth, given that he would survive the vigorous shaking and the strange tingling of his senses at the back of his mind. Neither the ofuda nor the scales had indicated the inugami's return, but he could feel something supernatural pulling at him.

"I already know what happened!" Lady Tori screeched, suddenly shoving the medicine seller backwards.

He stumbled a bit but quickly caught his footing, stopping to stare at her with a hint of surprise. She certainly was violent, but she'd finally confessed to knowing what had happened to Akimitsu. Surely this would lead to the truth and reason and he could finally put the mononoke to rest.

"Sister?!" Lady Inu yelped in surprise. "What happened?"

"I killed him myself!" Drawing her hands backwards at her sides, Lady Tori thrust them forward, the force from her hands throwing the medicine seller backwards and into the shoji door.

Now he understood why his supernatural senses were firing off. Lady Tori could use black magics. "Well this is unexpected."

**...**

**Author's musings**

The medicine seller's description of the inugami at the start of the chapter is the real legend of the inugami. It's quite an intriguing yokai and one linked to black magics. The Heian period is an earlier period in Japan (several before the story's Edo era) marked by long-lasting peace but also strange habits like never cutting your hair.

A lot of superstitions believed to create yokai through black magic was banned during the Heian period, but people would supposedly still practice it. It was said that someone caught practicing black magics would stain their family's honor permanently and potentially cast them out of society.


	4. Onmyoji

Onmyoji, practitioners of the black magics, Onmyodo. They weren't common in the Edo period, but that didn't mean practitioners weren't still around. Onmyodo wasn't inherently bad by any means, but it had its darker sides. And right now, that darker side was staring him right in the face.

He leaned against the shoji, thankful that the ofuda barricade hadn't broken in the impact. Last thing he needed was an onmyoji on one side and a mononoke missing its truth and reason on the other. The sword hadn't chattered yet. The truth was still incomplete.

"Sister!" Lady Inu yelped in surprise.

"Akimitsu was wasting all our funds away on whores and lavish nonsense," Lady Tori confessed. "He cared nothing for us! Just like the rest of the men here. They're all greedy and horrible!"

Tsuya ducked behind the medicine chest. This was much too crazy to handle.

"So you killed him yourself." The medicine seller pulled the sword from his obi, holding it in front of himself as he took a more defensive stance. Her onmyodo was rather powerful, and he could reason why. "You sacrificed them all to gain more power in sorcery, didn't you?"

"They were all worthless men!" Lady Tori boasted. "They were only good for sacrifices!"

"And you buried them in the rock garden," he attempted to keep her talking as one of the bells from the scales down the hall began to jingle. The mononoke's ire was likely drawn to hers, connected by truth and reason but there was still too much left unspoken..

"The only fitting place for them was under the dirt!" Lady Tori shouted.

The sword chattered. There was the truth. The inugami was created when they were sacrificed then buried under the rock. Akimitsu had been found over a dead mongrel, his ire likely transferring to it and creating the mononoke. But there was still some reason left he hadn't learned.

The scales were slowly tipping. The inugami was getting closer. The ofuda on the walls began to react, slowly turning black then a few turning red as the eye opened on the scrolls.

"Why would you do that, sister?!" Lady Inu questioned.

"He was going to sell you!" Lady Tori shouted back. "We were hurting for money, and you were more valuable than I was!"

Lady Inu's eyes went wide as the color flushed from her face. "It can't be…."

"I found books in his library on onmyodo and I reversed it onto him before he could hurt you!" Lady Tori continued. "His dying words were his only regret, that he wasn't the first to use onmyodo or that he could use us for selfish gain!"

The sword chattered. There it was, the reason that had caused a war to literally break out between brother and sister in a race for who could harm the other first. "Release," the taima sword chattered.

The medicine seller wrapped the sword's face in his hand. He couldn't release the blade right now. Onmyoji or not, Lady Tori was still human. The sword couldn't be used on humans. It could only be used to relieve mononoke of their suffering. And while the mononoke was getting closer and closer, as the scales and the ofuda had told him, there was something a bit more pressing at the moment. Lady Tori.

She drew her hand backwards in preparation for another attack. "And now I'll be rid of you, you pesky medicine seller! You greedy man!"

Her desire to protect her sister had overpowered her, almost as if she'd become a mononoke herself. But the more he was around her, the more he realized she was just possessed by her own ire and the black magics she desired to wield.

"I take your life, I'll be the most powerful sorcerer!" she proclaimed. "That magic you wield would bring our house back to favor! We could rebuild this place to be a sanctuary for women with this magic!"

He glanced at the door. The mononoke was behind it while the sorcerer was in front of it. He was trapped between them with the power to handle one but the other would get in his way. He had to be quick about this.

Tossing a barrage of ofuda at Lady Tori, he quickly opened the shoji door, leaping out into the hallway and shutting the door behind him. "Release!" he grasped the blade, removing it from its sheath. Outspreading his arms, the paint on his face and the embroidery on his kimono flushed away, transferring the power to his inner self.

The blade withdrew in a wash of orange and red colors, slicing the attacking inugami into two halves. "I will put you to rest." The mononoke had been entwined in a sadistic familial battle. It seemed like the same story over and over again. Greed. Ire. Desire. Humans were capable of such terrible things.

The howls of the mononoke rattled the walls and shook the people still within the room. Tsuya clung to the medicine chest while Fusa wrapped her arms around Lady Inu to protect her.

The medicine seller sighed in relief as the howls subsided, the form of a mongrel now laying silently at his feet. Gripping the sheath in his other hand, he turned, feeling the stare of another behind him. Lady Tori had followed him in the hallway, staring at him. But did she see the medicine seller or his inner self?

"What are you really?" she demanded.

"I wonder," he replied vaguely.

She looked less than pleased with the response but she made no move to attack. She stared at him, the dark form with golden paint that moved like it was a living creature on his skin. Whatever this medicine seller was, it wasn't human. He slew the mononoke in one attack with such ease. "How do you have such powerful magics?!"

"I wonder," he replied again.

"How can I attain such powers?!" she shouted at him.

"Don't," he replied sharply.

Her shoulders raised in anger and frustration, but she still hadn't moved to attack him. The medicine seller was definitely powerful, more powerful than she could've acquired by slaying a whole village. "What do you mean?!"

He watched her stance and movements. She radiated magics but she was still remarkably human. He could see it clearly in this form, seeing her inner self as well. A human with a desire to protect her sister. "This mononoke was borne of your feud with your brother," he informed her. "Your desire to acquire magics could create more and more mononoke that could threaten what you have left. What would happen to your sister if you continued down this path?"

The last time he'd spoken in this manner was with Ocho, the woman who had become entwined with the noppera-bo. Humans were capable of terrible things, but sometimes those terrible things were just a result of being set on the wrong path. He wasn't one to interfere with human ways, but sometimes a little nudge wasn't beyond his purpose.

She fell to her knees, holding her face in her hands. "What should I do?"

"That I cannot tell you," he replied. As he sheathed the blade, the medicine seller once again stood before her. He hooked a finger around the shoji door and slid it open. The two servants and Lady Inu huddled together. Lady Tori wasn't alone in this. She just had to realize this herself. He wasn't there to nudge her that much. Humans could be capable of good things once in awhile. Perhaps she could realize that too.

….

He slipped his feet into his wooden geta shoes as he adjusted the chest on his back. Another mononoke now resting outside the human realm. Perhaps he could've asked for payment for that medicine, but the house itself had fallen into so much disrepair from the problems caused by Akimitsu's hobbies, the medicine seller doubted he'd get that large payment he'd hoped for. Back to a rice and bok choy diet for him again. Such was the life of a merchant, after all.

He shook out the paper umbrella, opening it up once again. The rain still hadn't stopped. He walked through the gardens, past the trees and the gates and back towards the main entrance. Not a single mongrel was present. With the inugami quelled, the mongrels likely had no other reason to be here and had probably left in search of food elsewhere.

The medicine seller paused with his hand on the gate as he heard the clamor of sandals slapping against the stone walkway.

"Mr. Medicine Seller!"

"Miss Tsuya," he turned, recognizing the voice.

She skidded to a stop, leaning over with her hands on her knees, panting. "I'm glad I caught you before you left! Lady Inu would've been angry if I hadn't."

"Oh?"

"Here." She shoved an envelope at him. "Lady Inu wanted me to retrieve the secret stash of yen to pay you back for everything, the medicine, the mononoke, whatever you said to Lady Tori in the hallway."

The last one he hadn't expected. Perhaps his short conversation had successfully nudged her. Perhaps there still was some good left within Lady Tori. Perhaps she could release her ire and care for what remained of her family and her household so that other mononoke wouldn't be created here.

Accepting the envelope, he took a peek within. It was certainly thoughtful to pay him for the medicine with a personal stash, even when the household seemed to be hurting for money after Akimitsu's actions. He offered a polite bow. "Please offer Lady Inu my gratitude."

There wasn't much within the envelope, but it was enough that perhaps he could splurge and have some edamame with his next meal. He offered the slightest of smiles before turning back to the street. People could be capable of good things once in awhile.

**...**

**Author's notes**

Onmyodo was the name of magics in general but at times they were considered forbidden, particularly with the links to sacrifices and summons. It's unclear exactly where the medicine seller's magic originates, but it's possible that he may practice some onmyodo.

Onmyoji refers to magic practicioners. Funny enough, it's also a name of a mobile game where the medicine seller appeared as a guest character during an event.

Name meanings:

Tori – bird. Refers to the year of the rooster

Inu – dog. Refers to the year of the dog.

Tsuya – possibly means beauty or charm

Fusa – tassel. Connotates completenes "right down to the tassels"

Akimitsu – there are several ways to write the kanji characters for the name, but I picked out Bright Light because it sounds cool.


	5. The Candlelight Inn

"Hey, Mr. Medicine Seller. You don't want to stay there."

"Oh?" He turned finding a peasant couple staring nervously back at him. He had left the inugami incident well behind him, traveling several towns over and selling his wares along the way. He didn't have much yen to his name, just whatever was left over from Lady Inu's generosity. "I hear they have the lowest rates."

"It's cursed," the woman explained quickly.

"They say you go in, you never come out, that's why it's so cheap," the man added.

"I hear it's only nobility that disappears, but no one's actually certain," the woman continued. "There's just something creepy about that place."

Another curse. That honestly seemed like a trend lately. Perhaps he could sell them some charms and wards. Perhaps there was something else lurking within the walls. "I am just a simple medicine seller. Hardly anything worth cursing."

The pair glanced at each other. He hardly looked like a _simple_ medicine seller, but merchants were at the bottom of the class system. He probably was more simple than he looked. "Perhaps they could use some charms," the medicine seller added, mostly musing to himself. Perhaps he could make enough for to treat himself to bean sprouts in his rice today. That was definitely fancy.

He offered a deep and polite bow to the couple, turning on his wooden shoes and continuing on his path to the inn. His geta shoes clattered against the wooden bridge over the small river and then across the cobbled walkways as he reached the inn's door. There was definitely something about this place that caused his senses to tingle just a bit. Perhaps this place would be worth his time.

He reached for the door, opening it and stepping in. The place was traditional, looking like it had been standing there for centuries. Smelled like it too. It was musty and a little dusty but the decorations were more ornate than he'd expected. The place was littered with woven tapestries and walls painted with intricate scenes. There was a noticeable lack of charms for a place that was rumored to be cursed.

He sniffed. Also there were candles. Lots of them. He didn't see any immediately in the entryway but there were definitely many candles in the nearby rooms, more than were probably necessary.

"We don't need any medicines here," the voice sharply announced from behind the desk.

The medicine seller's attention quickly drew to the bored-looking man in a simple kimono. "I wish to stay for the night."

The bored-looking man also now looked unimpressed, like he didn't believe that the medicine seller had money to stay.

The medicine seller returned the stare, standing unmoving near the door as he awaited an actual answer.

"A medicine seller?" another man popped out from behind the curtains. He was younger with vibrant attire that matched his more energetic attitude. "Tadasuke, we _always _have room for merchants here at the inn!" he scolded the bored-looking man before turning back to the medicine seller, tapping his pipe. "Do you by chance have wares other than medicines?"

"I do," the medicine seller replied. Perhaps he would have those bean sprouts tonight.

…..

"This tobacco comes from western China," the medicine seller offered the small tin for the innkeeper to sniff.

"What an interesting smell!" the innkeeper remarked gleefully.

The medicine seller found the innkeeper rather interesting. He was more interested in types of tobacco instead of charms that could potentially ward off whatever curse the townspeople believed was here. It was good that he always kept a stash of rare tobaccos in his chest for just this purpose. "It is blended with a hint of cherry. It gives it a rather sweet taste and scent."

"How exotic!" the innkeeper exclaimed.

The medicine seller's attention briefly drifted towards the door as he heard Tadasuke scoff outside the room. At the innkeeper's insistence, they had retreated to one of the side rooms with a traditional table and pillows on the floor. The innkeeper sat rather untraditionally with one knee up and the other crossed in front of his body like a sideways butterfly, but the medicine seller was always proper. He propped himself up on his feet, his medicine chest sitting just behind him so it wouldn't disrupt the table or the pillows around it.

The room was much too fancy for his tastes. The walls were decorated with scenes of epic battles of samurai from the warring period, flanked by the most unusual candles he'd ever seen. They almost resembled a person crouched in an uncomfortable position and solidified in wax that way. There were several of the candles in the room, far more than needed to light the small space.

"You'll have to excuse Tadasuke," the innkeeper apologized. "The last few months, he's been incredibly sour towards the merchants."

"Hardly an uncommon reaction," the medicine seller commented, reaching into the drawer and pulling out another tin of tobacco.

"A pity, truly," the innkeeper commented.

The medicine seller stared at the closed door a moment more. Something supernatural pinged at the back of his mind. There was something here. "I wonder, what could turn someone so sour towards merchants? Perhaps someone has swindled him."

"Not that I know of," the innkeeper replied. "But perhaps the wax merchant had done him some wrong, sold him a bad batch. He does like his candles."

"He must. There are so many," the medicine seller observed, "and in such unusual shapes."

"There are always more and more," the innkeeper noted. "The shapes truly give them character, almost like they are people staying here as well."

The medicine seller peered over at the candles sitting on the opposite side of the table from him. They definitely did look like people eternally frozen in time, perpetually staying in the inn until their wax had melted. "They are rather unusual."

"Some of the townspeople think they're cursed, but the upper echelons are really intrigued by them," the innkeeper added.

_Upperclassmen certainly had weird tastes_, the medicine seller mused to himself. But even without prying, he'd already heard about the origins of a potential curse. There was more to it he certainly expected, but at the moment, it seemed a bit benign.

"Not only did we get craftsmen here, but the occasional samurai will visit," the innkeeper was practically bragging.

"Samurai?" that piqued the medicine seller's attention. "Such interesting clientele."

"They stop by on their paths between the main cities," the innkeeper explained. "But worry not. I keep the rooms separate so you won't have to worry about class issues during your stay."

Not that he was too worried, but the upper classes did have a tendency to be unnecessarily rude.

"I do favor the merchant classes, after all," the innkeeper added. "I'll ensure your room is very comfortable and you'll have an excellent meal in payment for the tobacco tin."

This man seemed far too eager to please. It was unusual, and the medicine seller just wasn't accustomed to it. He was a merchant, not some lord. It was a bit off-putting, but he did get more than he bargained for in terms of staying at the so-called cursed inn without having to spend what he had left of Lady Inu's payment.

And perhaps he'd learn why his supernatural sense was scratching at the back of his mind. There was something about this inn that actually _was _unnatural and it wasn't the overly eager innkeeper.

He glanced at the candle a moment more as he and the innkeeper exited the room. For a moment, he felt like the candle was staring back at him. As he followed the innkeeper, he placed his hand on the doorframe, dropping an ofuda on the wood. There was definitely something here.

"I'll have the inn maiden show you to your room," the innkeeper beckoned to someone in a brightly colored kimono, dark skin, and hair pulled up in typical Edo style.

She bowed politely then nearly stumbled over her own two feet.

The medicine seller nearly gaped in return. The inn maiden was Kayo.

**...**

**Author's musings**

Kayo arrives! He has a habit of bumping into her in strange locations. Well an inn with an overly eager innkeep that scratched at his senses certainly fits the bill, doesn't it?


	6. The Inn Maiden

"Surprising to find you here, Miss Kayo," the medicine seller commented as he followed her up the stairs towards what the innkeeper promised to be a comfortable room.

"Same to you," she replied. She hadn't encountered him for years, not since the incident on the ship through the Ayakashi Sea. She didn't particularly want to remember that time. It was horrifying as she saw her own worst fear manifest in front of her eyes thanks to that creepy fish ayakashi.

But something had happened. As snide as the medicine seller could be, he had helped quell her fears. No one else's, only hers, as he reminded her it was just an illusion. She glanced at him over her shoulder.

"Hm?" he peered back at her. He hadn't seen her for some time, but this was the third time he'd crossed paths with her. There was something about this girl that either was some sort of ayakashi magnet or just plain intrigued him.

She got straight to the point. "Are you here because of a mononoke?"

"I wonder," he replied.

"Do you ever give a straight answer?" she huffed.

"I do," he replied.

For once, that _was_ a straight answer. She still frowned a bit at him. Perhaps he really just was here to stay the night. Perhaps things wouldn't get crazy for once. Perhaps she was expecting way too much here. Sure he was a medicine seller, but he was also some kind of wild mononoke-slaying exorcist that just seemed to cross her path every so often.

"Why are you here?" he quickly changed the subject.

She hadn't expected such a personal question. "Well, since you asked. Ever since the fall of the Sakai house, I just can't find work. Some reason everyone actually heard of the bakeneko incident like it's some kind of famous tale now! They think I'm cursed or something." She puffed her lips out, frustrated.

"You were not the source of the mononoke's reason," the medicine seller pointed out.

"Well I know that," Kayo huffed again, "but none of the upper class houses will believe me. They think that I'll bring a bakeneko to their house or something. At least Mr. Hidehiko gave me a place to work after I couldn't pay even for food."

The medicine seller smirked just slightly at the name. Hidehiko roughly meant heroic prince. It was rather fitting for the overzealous innkeeper. "He does seem to favor the lower class quite a bit."

"Perhaps a bit too enthusiastically at times," Kayo frowned.

"I noticed," the medicine seller commented.

She turned to climb up the last few steps. "Here, this one's yours. I'll be back with dinner in a bit."

…

"So then the samurai lord said, 'I thought that candle was my kid! My mistake!'" Kayo bellowed a laugh, nearly choking on the rice dish.

The food she'd brought courtesy of the innkeep had been far too much for his needs, so he invited Kayo to stay a bit for some much needed gossip. Hidehiko seemed more than happy to oblige and keep the medicine seller busy in exchange for a bit more foreign tobacco. That man was way too over the top. Hidehiko probably thought it was for other reasons, but the medicine seller just wanted some gossip. It was a good contrast to the aggressive behavior of Lady Tori and the rather unsavory behavior of some of his clients following that. "Oh my. To think one would make such a mistake."

"Upper class are so weird sometimes, you know?" Kayo mused. " How does he even mistake a candle for his kid? That's ridiculous! I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing."

"Those candles are rather life-like," the medicine seller agreed, "but that is a rather difficult mistake to make. Unless his son was red."

"That's the thing!" Kayo laughed. "He was pale as a bedsheet!"

A grin tugged at the edges of his lips. "What a silly mistake."

"You're telling me!" Kayo shoveled more of the rice bowl into her mouth. She hadn't eaten this good of food perhaps ever. Whatever the medicine seller did must've really impressed Hidehiko to get such high class treatment. She wasn't used to it, and judging by how he had only taken up a very small portion of the room, he probably wasn't either. He was a merchant, the lowest class like she was, even if he was a very _interesting_ merchant.

And truly, he wasn't used to this sort of thing. He didn't know what to do with all the space. It was ridiculous how much there was. "Do the candles get mistook for people often?"

"They do all the time," Kayo replied. "I swear it's the reason people either stay away or purposely come here. There are so many and more and more just keep showing up."

It was as Hidehiko had said. The collection just kept growing. "Mr. Tadasuke has quite the collection," he mused.

"That Tadasuke," she puffed her lips out in anger. "He's a jerk! Mr. Hidehiko said he was once really chill, but I haven't seen it. He just likes spilling things on the floor and telling me to clean it up."

"How inconsiderate," he commented.

"You're telling me," Kayo huffed. "I don't know why Mr. Hidehiko keeps him around. It's like some sort of conspiracy."

"Oh?" he picked up on the specific word choice. "Have you heard something?"

She leaned closer. She liked to gossip and the medicine seller liked to hear it. "I heard rumors from the other servants that a samurai had come to stay here with his wife, not the one who mistook a candle for his kid mind you. Lord Tomotoshi or something. Maybe Tomotoyo. Anyway, here's the weird thing. No one actually saw him and his wife leave _except_ Tadasuke."

"He does seem to be the one at the front desk," the medicine seller pointed out.

"Yeah I thought that too," Kayo cradled the rice bowl in her hands, staring down at it. "But then I found two candles that looked a lot like them. I mean maybe I was seeing things, but after everything I've been through so far, I started getting worried that maybe there was more to this. Can people be turned into candles?"

"I wonder," he peered at the candle sitting at the far end of the room.

"That's a pretty unsettling answer!" she exclaimed, scooting a bit closer to him. At least if they were alive, he could fight them.

"Yokai exist at every corner of the human realm," the medicine seller informed her. "There are candle yokai and even ones that can possess your toilet."

"I don't really want to think about a toilet yokai!" she gripped the bowl tighter. She glanced at him nervously. He looked amused but it was hard to tell with the upturn of the makeup on his upper lip. But what she did notice was that he seemed focused on the candle now. "Do you think it could be a yokai? Or even a mononoke?"

"Who knows," he replied. "Nothing is quite clear yet." But there was something there. These candles were perhaps the source of the tingling in his supernatural sense.

"You know, there are a lot of rumors about people not leaving this place." She set the bowl down on the tray, standing up and tugging on the shoulder of his kimono. She had him here, the supernatural expert. Perhaps he could put her fears to rest but perhaps he would just give her another nonchalant answer. He was nothing short of the embodiment of mysterious at times. "I'll show you the samurai one. Mr. Hidehiko is likely off smoking at this hour and Tadasuke is probably asleep at his desk again."

She had been quite insistent, but he had to admit the candles did pique his interest. There was something here in this inn, something supernatural that likely didn't belong, but he wasn't certain quite yet that it had crossed that line to become a mononoke. There was one yokai that came to mind concerning candles but he'd have to witness these candles himself.

Taking to his feet, he followed Kayo out of the room, pausing only momentarily to plaster the candle there with ofuda to prevent anything from happening with it. He followed her down the stairway and behind the front desk where Tadasuke was predictably asleep. She quietly opened the door of the side room, beckoning him in before quickly shutting it.

"There it is," she pointed at the pair at the far edge of the room.

He stared at them for a moment. They were the same ones that had watched him sell the tobacco to the innkeep earlier that day. He glanced at the doorway where he'd left the ofuda before. It had been peeled off, likely from a servant that didn't know what it was.

The candles caught his attention at the moment. He hadn't the opportunity to look at them up close before as he padded over to them in his socked feet, leaning over to get a closer look. The candle definitely looked like a man contorted then frozen. He even had the typical topknot of a samurai. The one next to him had the updo popular among women currently. She had several hair sticks and combs adorning her waxy hair.

"They do look lifelike," he commented.

"See I told you!" Kayo exclaimed. "These suddenly appeared after the lord and lady supposedly left. There are others too, ones that looked like people I'm certain I took to their rooms."

"Hm," he stared at the candle some more. The candle possessed an expression of horror and perhaps a bit of ire. Something about the candle bothered him even more when looking at it up close. Kayo was pretty observant to notice how unusual the candles were, even when noticing the candles appearing after a person suddenly left the inn. Or disappeared. More likely the latter.

It almost felt like the candle was crying out to him. He reached forward to touch it but was quickly interrupted as Kayo leapt forward, clinging to the medicine seller tightly. "Th-they moved!" she exclaimed.

"Oh?" He didn't bother prying her off him, turning instead to see where she was pointing. The candle was still but it definitely wasn't in the same place as it was a moment ago. There was a wax marking on the tatami where it once stood and that was a different location than where it now stood. "They did move."

"W-why did it move?!" she clung to him even more.

"We may perhaps," he replied, "have a mononoke on our hands."

**...**

**Author's musings**

So Kayo and the Medicine Seller have another mononoke on their hands. Oh boy. Wonder what it is this time!


	7. The walking candles

"Maybe we should've just kept gossiping over rice bowls in the room," Kayo stammered, still clinging to the medicine seller like a child.

He pried her off his shoulders, setting her back on the ground and watching the candle across the room intently. There was definitely a mononoke here, but what was it? He needed to put it to rest so it wouldn't suffer anymore. "Come." He took her by the hand and the two quickly left the room. As he slid the door shut, he placed a few ofuda on the door frame.

"What are you doing?" Tadasuke's sharp, disdainful voice jarred the pair.

"Th-th-th-the candles are moving!" Kayo stammered.

Tadasuke scoffed. "Don't be silly. Candles don't move! Get back to work, girl!"

"Don't act like you're better than me!" she hissed at him.

"Get back to work!"

Tadasuke reached forward to grab her but the medicine seller intercepted, stopping his movements with a single finger. No matter how hard Tadasuke pushed, the medicine seller's finger simply didn't budge.

Kayo stared at the back of his kimono. There he was, protecting her again. He always acted so cool and serious, like his only purpose was to hunt mononoke, but somehow he kept protecting her. Even if he did tick her off sometimes.

"Don't interfere." The medicine seller flicked his finger, pushing Tadasuke back a few inches.

"W-what are you?!" Tadasuke shouted, prepared to strike the medicine seller, but the sound of something heavy coming down the stairs drew his attention instead.

One step by one step, the heavy sound approached closer and closer. Thud. Thud. Thud. Kayo leapt forward, clinging to the medicine seller's arm. "It's them. The candles are walking again!"

"Nonsense," Tadasuke scoffed.

"What is all that noise?" Hidehiko emerged from the side room, pipe still in hand. "Ah, Mr. Medicine Seller. What brings you downstairs at this hour?"

"It seems you may have," he replied calmly, "a mononoke here."

"What nonsense is that?" Tadasuke hissed.

The medicine seller extended an arm, pointing to the stairs. It was easily the slowest moving mononoke he'd encountered, but perhaps it had a flair for the dramatic. The stairs creaked as it moved down them one by one.

"W-what is that?" Hidehiko stammered, backing up towards the medicine seller. "Is that a… candle moving?"

The medicine seller outstretched a finger, making a beckoning motion. A jingling sound rang out against the loud thud of the candle, followed by a streak of gold and white as he caught the taima sword in his hand. The attached bell jingled as he brought the sword down, holding it out before him defensively. "I believe we have a toudaiki on our hands."

The sword chattered in response.

"The form…" Kayo reasoned somewhere between panic and clinging to him. "But what's a toudaiki?"

"A candle borne of black magics and a human being," the medicine seller replied.

"Eeeeeh?!" Kayo yelped. "You mean those really could be the missing guests?!"

"I wonder," he replied vaguely.

"M-missing guests?" Hidehiko stammered. "Black magics?"

"Onmyodo is quite the art," the medicine seller commented. "The question is, who could've created them in a way that caused them to give them a reason to come alive?"

"No one knows that sort of stuff here!" the innkeep insisted.

Someone was lying here. The staff here was pretty thin, but the rumors ran thick within them. The toudaiki wasn't exactly the fastest moving mononoke he'd encountered, but it still could be a threat if its reason became too powerful. He glanced over his shoulder, hearing the movement from within the sitting room behind him. Those candles were walking as well. Just how many toudaiki were here? What was it with inns and massive mononoke problems? "Mr. Hidehiko, is there a room here which does not possess a candle?"

"J-just the front room here," the innkeeper stammered.

Tucking the taima sword in his obi, the medicine seller plastered the doors in the area with ofuda seals to keep the walking candles at bay. But the stairs presented a different problem. He could create a barrier of ofuda across the stairs but something that heavy could break through it, tearing the papers easily.

But as the medicine seller stood near the base of the stairs, the mononoke stopped moving, curling back up into the contorted position all the candles seemed to take. The medicine seller stared at it. It had reacted to him in a way that most mononoke did not. Was it asking to be put to rest? He peered up at the candle. It appeared to be crying.

Kayo peered out around the other two towards the medicine seller. The mononoke had suddenly stopped but the sword hadn't chattered again. She knew he needed the truth and reason to slay the mononoke and so far he'd only gotten the form.

The medicine seller turned back to the innkeeper and his assistant. "I need to know everything about these candles and this inn."

"Like I'm going to honor demands from someone like you!" Tadasuke hissed.

"Talk." His voice was stern and strong as the medicine seller demanded answers.

"Why are you looking at me?" Hidehiko panicked.

"Mononoke are born of the ill will of humans and their actions," the medicine seller replied. "They carry on the ire of those who have been killed, possessing objects and animals and becoming things like walking candles. Someone here created them. A lot of them."

Kayo quietly slipped out from behind the innkeep and his assistant, edging along the room to stand behind the medicine seller. It just seemed safer there.

"I do recall that the candles were Mr. Tadasuke's project, were they not?" the medicine seller pointed out. In their conversation earlier, Hidehiko had pointed out that Tadasuke liked candles and had created many of them.

"Don't think you can blame this on me!" Tadasuke hissed. "He's involved too!" he immediately fingered Hidehiko in the involvement.

"Me!? The innkeeper hissed. He had opened his mouth to shout some more but quickly leapt forward as the sounds in the room behind him began to scrape and thump once again. The ofuda barriers lit up like red fire, flaring across the walls in an attempt to keep the mononoke at bay.

"Those barriers will not hold forever," the medicine seller warned them. He could feel Kayo clinging to his kimono behind him as the barriers behind him also lit up. The mononoke on the stairs still hadn't moved. "I can slay them if I know their truth and reason, how they were created and what has caused them to become so angry, but you must tell me what that is."

"It was his idea!" Tadasuke confessed in a panic.

"You were the one with the onmyodo scroll!" Hidehiko shot back.

"They were all greedy upper class, what did it matter anyway!" Tadasuke attempted to reason with the situation. "You're beneath them. We're all beneath them!"

The medicine seller calmly listened to them shout. The pressure of the situation had caused them to start talking, but they still hadn't said enough. The sword hadn't reacted to confirm this was the toudaiki's truth. "Why did you turn them into candles?"

"For money, of course!" Hidehiko nearly bragged about the work. "Those upper class keep all the money for themselves while we lower class have to suffer. Why should they keep all the wealth when we can extort it from them and share it amongst ourselves?"

It made sense. Hidehiko's insistence of favoring the merchants, his overzealous attempts to shower the medicine seller with more lavishness than he ever cared for. The food was well worth it but that room was far too extravagant.

The medicine seller remained silent, his attention focused on the innkeeper and his assistant across the room.

"That's crazy!" Kayo shouted. "I mean they're all stuffy and rich and sometimes rude, but they're still people!"

"How can you still say that with how much work you do for them but they do nothing for you!" Hidehiko shouted back.

"Because I've seen how terrible people are!" Kayo hissed before clamping up. She _had_ seen how horrible people were. Lord Yoshiyuki was a terrible person, and the things he did to Tamaki were things so bad even her nightmares had nightmares. That whole family turned out to be terrible. "Sure people can be bad, but people are capable of good too. I've served some good people." Though those good people did get nervous about her involvement with the bakeneko rumors, they'd sent her off to travel with yen in her pocket. They didn't necessarily abandon her without any money. She'd talked about them sourly before, but they weren't bad people.

"Sympathizer!" Tadasuke shouted, reaching behind the front desk. He pulled out a large hot bucket, hurling the contents at the medicine seller and Kayo. The former was quick, removing the seals from the door behind them and pulling Kayo into the other room and then shutting the door. The hot wax from the bucket sizzled on the paper door.

Kayo clung to him. She wasn't certain how this was better than before. Instead of being surrounded by people who _made _the candles, they were now surrounded by the _actual_ mononoke candles instead. She swallowed hard, just hoping that she would live through this.

**...**

**Author's notes:**

Toudaiki are kinda terrifying. They're made of wax and a living person. The origin of this yokai seems to come from a legend of a government minister who traveled to China then disappeared. His son later traveled to China years and years later to look for his missing father. He found a human-shaped candle that intrigued him. It started to cry and he realized the candle was his missing father.

Seems kind of fitting for an inn that attracts high class clientelle then extorts them. Terrifying.


	8. Toudaiki

They were surrounded by two dozen candles that looked far too human than they should. But they were once human, once people who had simply come to the inn to stay. Some looked like adults but others looked like children.

The medicine seller stood on the table in the center of the dark room in a defensive stance, mostly watching the door cautiously but still keeping a close watch on the mononoke now surrounding them. The candle mononoke approached one by one, outstretching their waxy arms towards the pair on the table.

Kayo gasped. "W-what are they-"

The medicine seller placed a single finger on her lips to interrupt her. "Just watch." He'd felt it before when he looked up the stairs at the single toudaiki that appeared to be crying. They weren't angry. They were sad.

"I want to go home."

The medicine seller knelt down on the table, taking the outstretched hand of the smaller candle. "I can release you from this world if you tell me your truth and reason."

Kayo stared. The smaller candle that spoke had the voice of a child. Perhaps even more surprising was how gentle the medicine seller was with the mononoke. She had reasoned him a mononoke hunter before. He seemed to revel in finding mononoke and fighting them, but there was more to this than she had realized, wasn't there? It was as if he truly just wanted to help them by removing them from this world. He'd mentioned they were bound here before. Perhaps he was just the one who could sever those ties and let the vengeful souls rest.

"It all started a year ago," one of the other toudaiki spoke. "My wife and I were simply staying here as we traveled. This inn offered the most pleasant rooms in the area. It was truly nice. Then that night, Tadasuke attacked. He poured wax over my wife while Hidehiko made me watch. Then he did the same to me."

The taima sword chattered. "I see. You were the first. This is the reason for the mononoke, the reason you are all bound to this realm. But do you know why they did this?" Knowing who had been the source of the reason was important. Eliminating that source would release all those bound to it.

"Extortion," another replied. "I saw it myself. They waxed my son and me, then tried to tell my family that we never paid our bill. He told them it was an unfathomable amount, much more than the actual price."

"It happened to me too!" another agreed. "My poor son did his best to foot the bill but it must've destroyed the household!"

"My poor daughter couldn't pay the fee," an elderly candle added. "When she realized that something was amiss, she threatened to go to the local lords to expose them, but she soon met the same fate as I." He indicated a petite candle sobbing in the corner.

The taima sword chattered in response. There it was, the last piece of the puzzle. The medicine seller had reasoned jealousy involved, but extortion and greed were also very strong emotions that mixed with the pain of what he'd done to these people. That was more than enough to create a mononoke in this world.

It was somewhat surprising that the candles hadn't moved about before today. Yet perhaps now the feelings had become so overwhelming in a combination with being within reach of someone who could help them had truly caused them to bridge realms and manifest here in the human one.

"I just want to go home," the child repeated.

"We all do," yet another replied. "We just wanted a nice place to stay for the night! It's not our fault!"

"It rarely is." The medicine seller stood up, pulling the sword from his obi.

"You can do this with that taima, right?" the first spoke.

"I can now that I know your form, truth, and reason," the medicine seller replied. "Miss Kayo. You may wish to cover your eyes." He held the sword up above his head, staring up at it as it hovered above him. "Release."

"Release! Release!" the sword chattered as the medicine seller unsheathed it. His inner self appeared, standing between his outer self and Kayo, who had quickly covered her entire face with her hands. The medicine seller merged with his inner self who drew the taima sword from its sheath. It was time to put these souls to rest, to end the suffering of the mononoke gathered here. The toudaiki didn't put up a fight. They welcomed the rest.

Round and round the sword went, slaying all the mononoke present. The last one was the samurai, the first whose ire and sadness had created the mononoke in the inn. He offered the medicine seller a smile, happy to finally be able to rest with his wife.

The shoji door rattled before it was forcefully shoved open and pulled off its tracks. The medicine seller stood crouched on the table, arms outstretched as if he'd slashed the now-sheathed taima sword in a massive arc. Kayo stood behind him with her hands over her face. The toudaiki candles now looked like regular columnar candles scattered around the room.

Hidehiko and Tadasuke both gaped. The latter recovered first. "We can't let you leave after you know all this, after what you've seen."

The medicine seller never really expected gratitude from people after he killed the mononoke and released their anger. Some were more grateful like Lady Inu, but others like the two before him seemed less than pleased. He stood up, tucking the sword in his obi. "I'm just a simple medicine seller. I haven't seen anything."

Kayo peeked between her fingers. After everything they'd seen and heard, he was just going to pretend it didn't happen? They sure seemed ungrateful for how much the medicine seller just did for them. She turned, huffing, but when she noticed how calm the medicine seller's expression was, she didn't say anything yet.

The innkeeper stared. "That's it? Just like that?"

"I'm just an ordinary medicine seller," he replied. "No one would believe such a fanciful tale from someone like me."

"You're hardly ordinary," Hidehiko pointed out.

"I think you're mistaken," the medicine seller shrugged off the idea, hopping off the table. "If you will excuse me, I do believe I would like some rest before I head off in the morning."

Tadasuke practically leapt out towards the medicine seller. "How dare you-" He was quickly thwarted by the innkeeper holding him back. The pair watched the medicine seller walk past him and head for the stairs.

"He's right, you know," Hidehiko understood. "No one would believe him. The unfortunate status of a merchant nowadays. But I suppose we could use the story to attract customers a legitimate way. How good are you at carving wax?"

Kayo glanced at the two talking about future business endeavors even after the atrocities they had committed were laid bare. The medicine seller had been so nonchalant about what the two had done, but instead he showed sympathy to the mononoke. There was definitely more to him than she understood.

Hopping off the table, she shuffled past them and up the stairs. He hadn't gotten that far. "I don't really understand you, you know."

"Most do not," he replied simply as he continued up the stairs.

"They did horrible things, and sure, you killed the mononoke, but that doesn't really excuse what those two did," Kayo stared at his back, following him up the stairs. "How can you just ignore it so easily?"

He stopped on the next step, turning to meet her stare. "Humans are capable of terrible things. Greed, lust, jealousy, anger. Those emotions and more can create mononoke."

The way he spoke, Kayo almost felt like he wasn't human at all. He did have an unusual look to him, but he walked among people as a merchant and no one questioned it.

"Such emotions do not always do so, but in death, a grudge can be passed on," he continued. "Sometimes that grudge stays within the spiritual realms, but when it passes into the human realm, it must be dealt with. The mononoke suffers and the grudge cannot end."

She peered up at him some more. She never really thought that killing a mononoke would end its suffering. "So like with Lady Tamaki…."

"Once the bakeneko was slain, her and the cat's soul were at peace," the medicine seller revealed. The bakeneko incident really had really stuck to her mind like glue. He couldn't blame her. She'd been there with Odajima to see the bakeneko reveal its truth in vivid detail. Perhaps it affected her more than she let on. Perhaps he actually cared what she felt.

She stared up at him. She'd never really considered what happened after a mononoke was slain, but then again, before she crossed paths with the medicine seller, such things seemed like nothing more than stories.

He turned, peering up the stairs. Apparitions of people began to appear. First the samurai and his wife, then several other samurai, ladies, lords, and merchants along with a dozen children. One by one, they descended the stairs, smiling and laughing with each other.

"Do you see them, Miss Kayo?" He watched them travel down the stairs with a surprisingly soft expression tugging at his features.

The samurai offered him a nod. The child cheered him on. The people were all happy.

He offered them a polite bow as they all passed by. "Do you see the souls who finally aren't bound by such negative emotions?"

She squinted at the stairs, trying to look where the medicine seller was looking. She couldn't see anything at all, but for a moment, she thought she heard children laughing.

…

The medicine seller left the inn behind him with more than just some extra yen in his pocket. There was a lot of yen in that small pouch. Hidehiko had been more than generous, shoving yen at him perhaps to keep him from talking. Not that the medicine seller often talked about what he did.

But now he also had a companion. Kayo insisted she come with him. "You're sure it's good to come with you, right?"

"I did say yes," he replied.

She had no idea what she was getting into. She knew nothing about medicines or the supernatural but she did manage to get him to agree to teach her. She wanted to find her place in the world now that she'd been wandering for so long. Ironic that she thought maybe her place _was_ wandering. But she knew that wandering wouldn't be so boring with someone like the medicine seller as her companion. "You know, I was kinda expecting Mr. Hidehiko to be more insistent than he was. Or kill us in the middle of the night."

"Humans may be capable of horrible things, but they are also capable of decency," the medicine seller point out.

There he went again, referring to people as 'humans' instead of just 'people.' She stared at him for a moment. "Are you human?"

"I wonder," he replied vaguely.

She puffed up. "What's your name?"

"Who knows?" he replied.

She huffed evey more. "If I'm going to travel with you, at least stop messing with me!"

"Uh oh, you caught me," he teased.

"You're frustrating, you know!" she fussed.

A slight grin tugged at the edge of his lips. Perhaps this _would_ be interesting.

**...**

**Author's musings**

Uh oh! Looks like the medicine seller now has an apprentice! I had favored the idea that Kayo probably took to a lot of wandering after the Bakeneko incident and the Ayakashi Sea, particularly since word about the Bakeneko incident had spread pretty far by the time that Kayo and the medicine seller cross paths a second time.

After crossing paths again, it only seems natural to travel with him now. And I sure wouldn't stay in Hidehiko's inn after that either. Yeesh.

I also like the idea that the medicine seller does what he does not out of necessity but some kind of desire to help mononoke who are suffering because of regret.

I do wonder where this will lead us.


	9. The popular tea house

"Okay, so liquorice root can be used to help with stomach and throat problems," Kayo recalled the last sale at that rich estate they just recently left.

"Indeed," the medicine seller confirmed.

"And you can't give it to someone who has heart problems," Kayo continued.

A small smile tugged at the edges of his lips. She was learning this well. Slowly, but she'd only been traveling with him for a month. There was a lot of information to absorb with medicines and the other oddities he kept in the chest. "Correct."

She looked proud of herself. She had spent so much time drifting and being 'just a servant', she never thought she could actually make it as a merchant. Then again, she had a good teacher. He was rather patient and extremely knowledgeable. He also carried a number of questionable things in that chest that amused her, everything from the erotic prints to the suspiciously large amount of gunpowder. She still hadn't figured out how most of it fit in that pack, but she chalked it up to some supernatural magic.

Nothing particularly supernatural had happened in the last month, but it was still loads better than being stuck at that inn after knowing everything that had happened there before. People candles. That just sent shivers down her spine.

"Hm?" the medicine seller stopped at the edge of the town.

Kayo shook from her thoughts, peering around him to find a number of people bustling about in the streets. "That's a lot of people. This town seems pretty small. A festival maybe?"

"Perhaps," he replied. He took a step forward into the town, a supernatural sense tugging at the back of his mind. Something was here.

"You heard about the tea house?" one person passing by gossipped.

"The large one at the far edge of town?" the other replied. "Yeah, I heard it just got really famous one day. Aka said that it was nothing only a few months ago, now it's super popular all of a sudden."

"I hear they made a wish and it came true," the first person added. "I want to make a wish and have it come true!"

The medicine seller peered at them as they passed, listening to their conversation. There were yokai who would grant wishes but those could backfire. Yokai weren't too much of his concern until they crossed the mononoke line. The rumors seemed pretty benign, but that was always how they all started.

Kayo watched them go as well. Before she would've wanted to make a wish as well, but now she suspected everything like that was supernatural as potentially dangerous. She'd stick to the medicine seller who now was walking off into the crowd. "H-hey wait!" She quickly caught up with him, doing her best not to get lost in the crowd. "Are you going to that tea house?"

"They may be interested in some extracts," he replied simply.

"I mean for _other _reasons," Kayo clarified.

"Who knows," he replied.

She huffed. "You're really vague, you know."

"They could just be rumors," he added.

She huffed again. They really _could _just be rumors. People did like to gossip. She loved to gossip too. She followed him into the servant's entrance to the tea house. As he offered a deep bow at the door that denoted his status as a merchant, she followed suit.

A young woman in a brilliant blue kimono with brilliant pink cherry blossoms greeted them. "Ah, a medicine seller and his wife."

Kayo puffed up. "Apprentice."

The young woman gasped. "Oh I'm so sorry. I just assumed."

"Don't worry about it," Kayo waved it off. She didn't exactly look like a medicine seller. She had a brilliant kimono like he had but nothing about her exactly screamed merchant.

"Are you perhaps in need of extracts or tea leaves?" the medicine seller offered.

The girl thought for a moment. "We do have a usual tea peddler that comes by every so often, and Sister is often picky about what teas she brews here for the guests and for tea ceremonies."

Kayo picked up on the words. "Is there a mister too?"

The girl giggled. "Noooooooo, but honestly she should get married soon. She can't run this tea house by herself, especially with how popular this place has gotten so suddenly."

Kayo scooted closer to the girl on her knees, leaning in. "Well let me tell you about the…." she whispered the rest in the girl's ear. Kayo recalled some of the intriguing things that the medicine seller had brought for Lady Mao all those years ago. Perhaps they could make a sale that way. She wanted enough coins for edamame today.

The girl blushed, giggling. "Oh my. That… that would certainly help. Come in, come in."

The medicine seller followed the girls in, setting the chest down and kneeling beside them. He was impressed with Kayo's initiative and amused she was using the same approach he used when they first met. People did like their love charms and herbs, even the ones that would help one in bed.

He turned slightly as a cat brushed against his leg. A normal cat with a stubby tail. Extending his hand, the cat immediately came to him. He rubbed its ears and scratched its chin, and the cat purred happily.

"Oh that's Takkun. I hope he's not bothering you," the girl apologized.

"Not at all," the medicine seller offered the cat some more scritches. He glanced around the room for a moment. The back room seemed rather traditional for a tea house. Tatami matts, wooden shelves and a collection of teapots. There was a small bonsai tree in the corner. All seemed rather normal except the pair of dolls on the top shelf. They looked typical of girls' dolls, but they were carefully stored on the top shelf with absolute care.

Kayo leaned over, whispering into the medicine seller's ear. "It's ginseng, right?"

He nodded, hooking a finger around the third drawer and pulling a container full of leaves. "It is rather bitter, but it should do the trick. And if all else fails, it goes well with tea." He opened the container, showing her the collection of very fragrant leaves.

The door slid open sharply, another lady in a brilliant green kimono shuffled in with heavy feet. "Mitsu!"

The girl jumped. "A-ah, Sister! We have a visitor."

"Another peddler this time with his wife," the elder sister scoffed. "We've been getting a lot lately."

"My apprentice and I were simply suggesting some extracts for your teas," the medicine seller offered a polite bow. "I do hope we are not intruding."

"Apprentice?" the elder sister questioned. Peddling wares didn't exactly seem like proper work for a lady but then again, she was running a tea house and the entire family. She stared at the unusual-looking medicine seller and his supposed apprentice. "Very well. Mitsu, see what extracts would work well. I'm far too busy at this moment."

Kayo puffed up as the elder sister left the room. "Boy she's all in a hurry, isn't she?"

The medicine seller sat back up on his knees. "Manners, Miss Kayo."

Kayo huffed. "Well at least she didn't kick us out."

"Sister's been in such a hurry, lately," Mitsu frowned. "Ever since we lost our eldest sister, Shina has absorbed herself in the tea house and the popularity just exploded. She's really good at managing the business, but sometimes I wish that the people would just disappear for a moment so I can spend some time with her too."

_What's next?_

The medicine seller peered at the door. The words sounded as if they had come from within the room, but only the three of them sat there. Even Takkun the cat had scampered off to chase some leaves. The voice was far too close to have simply drifted in from the main room. "Those dolls up there," the medicine seller pointed towards the shelf. "Did they belong to your eldest sister?"

"They did," Mitsu peered up at them. "Shina adores them, so after Ichi's death, she kept them and placed them up there. They bring us luck, she says."

"A good luck charm?" Kayo questioned.

Mitsu nodded. "Ever since they were placed up there, the business just kind of exploded. I want to help Shina to make this business very successful. It's our family's legacy."

The medicine seller peered up at the dolls. They were now looking to the side while before they were looking forward. There was definitely something here. Could they be a yokai or perhaps a mononoke that was sneaking into the human world? It was possible that the dolls were the source of the rumors around town. Something had caused an ordinary tea house to explode in popularity after the death of the eldest. A sudden death in the family could be the start of a mononoke, but it didn't always have to be. Nothing strange happened yet, other than the dolls looking in a different direction.

But he thought too soon as the noise from the tea room suddenly quieted aside from a rather dramatic scream.

"Sister!" Mitsu yelped, standing up quickly and nearly tripping over her kimono. Stumbling to the shoji door, she pushed it open sharply. She screeched in shock, stumbling backwards and right into the medicine seller. "They're… they're...!" She jabbed a finger at the room.

All the guests who once conversed and drank tea in merriment were now replaced with dolls and stuffed toys, most sitting upright where the people once sat but a few had teetered over onto their sides. Shina stood at the side of the room, her hands up in surprise after dropping a tea tray onto the ground, the fresh tea seeping into the tatami mat.

Kayo peered around the two, staring in shock at the bizarre scene now set before them.

With a gasp, Mitsu finally moved, shuffling over to her elder sister to cling to her. "What happened, Sister?"

Shina mouthed a few words but nothing came out.

The medicine seller stepped in the room, one large step after the other, Kayo following him close behind.

Kayo peered at him with worry. "Could this be…?"

"I do believe it is," he confirmed. "This is the work of a mono-." He cut himself off when he and Kayo were suddenly finding themselves in the entryway once again with the shoji door suddenly closing on them with a slam. He stared at the door, unfazed that Kayo had wrapped herself around him in surprise. "Well this could be troublesome."

**...**

**Author's musings**

I had to look up all manner of traditional medicines to find something for Kayo and the medicine seller's conversation at the start. There are so many roots and weird things that are used in eastern medicine that have a wide variety of effects. I had heard of ginseng being good for many things... including in bed.

Women's roles were a bit different in Edo Era Japan. Women were lords over the household, able to keep track of the finances and other businesses within, while men were lords of the outside. It seemed to be a pretty rigid distinction between the two. Because of this, Kayo being an apprentice seems a bit strange. A peddler likely would travel with his wife or she would stay in their home to lord over the house. Mitsu's mistake is an honest one.


	10. Caught outside

"W-w-what do we do now?!" Kayo shouted into the back of his kimono. She'd encountered mononoke a number of times now, but they still startled her, causing her to wrap herself around him in fear and uncertainty. Sometimes it was a mononoke, sometimes it was a rat. Both could be unsettling.

This was the first time that Kayo had been shoved out of a room by a mononoke, but it wasn't the medicine seller's first time. While there were still ways to solve a mononoke's truth, form, and reason without being able to speak to the mononoke's targets, it would be considerably difficult to find the information.

He outstretched his hand, waving it to the side as if to open the door from a distance. The shoji door wiggled a bit on its tracks then shut tightly once again. The mononoke was certainly intent on not letting them back inside the tea room.

"Miss Kayo, if you would untangle yourself, please," the medicine seller peered over his shoulder, finding only her hair ornaments in view. "We are outside the mononoke's domain."

Kayo unwound herself, placing her feet on the ground and puffing up a bit to try not to look frightened. "I thought it was dangerous to be outside."

"It can be," he replied vaguely.

"Then let's get back in there!" Kayo stomped over to the door.

"Miss Kayo."

"I don't want to be caught out here where the mononoke can attack us as well!" She attempted to force open the shoji door, but it wouldn't budge. It felt like it weighed as much as a metal and wooden door, far too much for a paper door with a thin wooden frame.

"Miss Kayo."

She pursed her lips, her hands still on the door frame as she leaned nearly horizontally in somewhat of a comical fashion, attempting to pull the door open. That was twice he'd said her name. She peered over her shoulder at him.

He stood calmly with his hands at his side, the taima sword now tucked into his obi. At least he wasn't trying to throw ofuda spell papers all over the place without warning this time. "The door will not open."

"I noticed," she frowned at him.

He peered at her calmly. "Do you recall the rumors in the town?"

She released the door, straightening back up and smoothing her kimono down. "Yeah, the ones about how the place got so popular by a wish. Wait, do you think this wish stuff has something to do with the mononoke?"

"I do," he replied simply. "Miss Mitsu did mention a wish to spend time with her sister, and now we are here, outside the room, while they are inside."

"Her wish came true!" Kayo reasoned.

A grin tugged at the edge of his lips. Being able to collaborate with someone about mononoke was certainly a new experience but one that could be incredibly beneficial. Kayo didn't have the supernatural knowledge or abilities he did, but perhaps a human perspective wouldn't be a bad thing. She wasn't quite as observant as he, but that could be a learned skill. "Yes, and following that statement, I heard something say 'What's next?'"

"That's creepy," Kayo admitted. "Was it the mononoke?"

"Likely." He peered up at the top of the shelf. It was just as he suspected. The shelf was now completely empty. "They're gone."

Kayo situated herself next to the medicine seller, peering upwards then yelping in surprise. "Where are the dolls?!"

"Mononoke possessing dolls," he reasoned.

"That's really creepy," Kayo frowned.

"There are a handful of doll yokai, but I do wonder," he peered up at the shelf, tapping a finger on his chin. "Which could it be?"

Kayo stared at the shelf. Moving dolls. This was unsettling, though probably not as bad as that fish ayakashi that showed everyone their worst fears. She still couldn't unsee that, and if it hadn't been for the medicine seller helping her regain her wits, she might've been stuck in that illusion forever.

"While we remain ejected from the mononoke's room, perhaps we should do some research elsewhere." He hooked a finger, the bottom drawer on his medicine chest responding to his motions. The scales within sat up, ready to be put into action. "Miss Kayo, if you would."

She perked up, seeing the scales once again. Something about them always made her smile. It was like they had their own personalities, reacting to her and bowing to her. As she wiggled her fingers, a few of the scales flew up and perched on them. She paused, noticing the medicine seller placing a few spell papers on the door frame. "Wait, why do we need scales if you're barricading that room?"

"There were two dolls," he replied simply. "One is likely within this room, but the other is uncertainty."

Kayo gulped. "It could be out here?!"

"Possibly," he replied, placing a hand on the bookshelf. It was filled mostly with containers of tea with several large teapots on the upper shelf. They looked like they hadn't been used in a few years, collecting dust along with several unused tea cups. "We do not know where the second one went. It could be a pair, but it also could be two separate entities. Nothing has attacked directly, so it is simply unknown."

She frowned, turning her attention back at the scales that now have covered her arms as they eagerly awaited their next location. Sure, she'd seen a number of mononoke so far, but being the one to learn their truth, form, and reason was proving a bit more difficult and unnerving than she'd thought.

She frowned as rain began to pour outside, darkening the skies. The tea house looked incredibly dark for some reason, almost as if all the candles had gone out at the same time.

Candles. She didn't want to see candles ever again. She peered at the end of the room. The candles looked like normal stick candles, at least, no weird people candles.

But that still presented the problem that everything just appeared dark, and right now that darkness just felt spooky. On the other side of the door was a doll mononoke. On their side _might_ be a doll mononoke. Shuddering, she moved her arms, the scales scattering about to their new locations. Most were located at the door to the tea room, but a few had scattered themselves about the room, docking on the walls and ceiling.

"Such sudden rains." With a hum, the medicine seller turned back to the medicine chest, kneeling down in front of it. He pulled out a few drawers, removing the mortar and pestle along with something that looked like a paper lantern.

With the scales now situated with their bells down, Kayo turned to the medicine seller, leaning over his shoulder to watch what he was doing. He removed a few ordinary-looking herbs and supplies, but then he opened the drawer of unusual ingredients like gunpowder, some salt, a few other odd things she didn't recognize. "What are you making? Another light bomb?"

"A light," he replied, "unless you would prefer carrying a candle, Miss Kayo."

She huffed at his coy response.

He grinned a bit as he continued his work. "It can be used to illuminate that which often cannot be seen. If the mononoke is hiding within the shadows, we may be able to see it with this." He pulled out one more ingredient that she couldn't quite identify, something crushed that had some strange iridescent sheen to it. Crumpling the substance between his fingers, it reacted to his touch and began to glow.

Kayo stared at the substance. "Wait wait, it glows? Is that magic?"

The medicine seller held up the container to her. "Just an ordinary reaction. Take a pinch and rub it between your fingers."

She took the offered bowl as he poured the mortar's contents into the paper lantern. "What is it?"

"It's a phosphorous mixture," he replied. "Don't eat it. It's poisonous."

She frowned at the substance, choosing very quickly not to sniff it. Instead she pinched a bit between her fingers, rubbing it until it began to glow. She had to admit, for a poisonous substance, it sure was pretty interesting. She dropped the pinched phosphorus mixture into the lantern, watching it light up.

Sliding the drawers shut, he stood up with the orb in his hand. "Let's see what we can learn." He headed in the opposite direction of the tea room, up a narrow path of stairs.

She followed him, feeling weird that she was pretty much investigating someone's house while they were preoccupied with mononoke. "So what are we looking for anyway?"

The upstairs hallway was quiet and dark, shadows peering out around decorative tables that displayed bonsai trees and a teapot here and there. It was a much larger area than Kayo had expected, but for a booming tea house, the upstairs likely was as big as the downstairs. People with their large houses. It seemed excessive.

"Something to point to the truth, reason, or form," he replied. He paused as something came into view, laying in the hallway.

Kayo yelped, curling her arms around him.

"A doll," he observed calmly. The doll simply lay on the floor, unmoving and inanimate, but something about the doll's features seemed recognizable. Porcelain face, black hair in disarray, a black kimono. While this doll didn't seem to be possessed by a mononoke, the features were familiar. "I do wonder. Perhaps we are dealing with a hinnagami."

The sword chattered, confirming the form.

"How interesting," the medicine seller mused.

Perhaps the only thing more unnerving than a mononoke was to hear him say that something was interesting. Kayo gulped. Hopefully they'd live through this.

**...**

**Author's musings**

Hinnagami are pretty creepy yokai. They are created by meticulously collected grave earth combined with fresh human blood to create clay. The doll formed from the clay must be trampled by a thousand people on a busy road until it becomes alive and probably pissed off. The hinnagami will grant any wish the owner desires, however with a catch. Once one wish has been fulfilled, another must be requested. They are borne of greed and desires.

Death will not free a person from a hinnagami. They will follow them to hell.


	11. Broken Doll

The medicine seller stared at the doll. It didn't move. He crouched down, wrapping his free hand around the doll and picking it up. Its lifeless limbs hung down around his hand.

"D-don't pick that up!" Kayo yelped.

"It's just a doll." It had no life within it, but it looked like a typical vessel for a hinnagami. He found it strange that the mononoke possessed a regular doll instead of a vessel like this, but mononoke didn't always work the same way as the human world often did.

She kept her distance, watching the doll cautiously as the medicine seller held it in his hand. "What's a hinnagami anyway?"

"A doll spirit, in essence," he replied, turning the doll a bit in his hand. The vessel was well made but still very much empty. "It is created deliberately through intensive rituals, the result is a hinnagami spirit that can grant the owner any wish they desire."

"Any wish, huh," Kayo frowned at the doll.

"There is a catch," the medicine seller added. "A hinnagami will continue to demand wishes after one is granted. It's a double-edged sword."

"That sounds like it could get bad fast," Kayo reasoned. She still hadn't dared to approach while he was holding the doll, but she also didn't keep her distance as there could be a mononoke lurking in the shadows. "But how could this hinnagami thing become a mononoke? Doesn't someone have to die or something?"

"The ritual failed," he replied. "This doll is empty. Perhaps they sought to create one by other means."

She continued to stare at the doll with uncertainty. But she also knew that he understood supernatural things a lot better than she did. If he said it was empty, it was empty, but that didn't mean she would _like_ the doll. "Black magics?"

"I wonder." He set the doll on the table next to the bonsai tree. He moved the light back and forth across the hallway, looking at each paper door before opening them. Bedroom. Storeroom. Another bedroom.

Kayo watched him curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Something left this doll here in the hallway," he replied.

"That doesn't really answer much," she huffed.

He paused with his hand on the door, peering back at her. He opened his mouth a moment to say something but quickly gritted his teeth, a fanged tooth visible for a moment before he turned back towards the dark hallway. His free hand drawn backwards with spell papers peeking out from between his fingers, he held the light orb in front of them. Something was there, but even with the lantern's light, nothing had shown up.

_What's next?_

He heard the whispers again. Had they made another wish downstairs? They had to oblige, to satiate the constant demands of a hinnagami. There was a chance it would backfire and create an odd, possibly deadly situation. It depended on how angry the mononoke was and how it would react. It was possible it didn't want revenge, but it was equally possible it did.

He took a few steps forward, the floorboards creaking beneath his socked feet. At the end of the hallway was a peculiar shoji door partially boarded up. Unlike the other doors, this one wasn't well kept, seemingly falling into disrepair from neglect. "How peculiar."

"You _would_ say that," Kayo commented, clinging to his shoulder.

"Hold this but don't drop it," the medicine seller offered her the glowing orb.

Kayo took it, cradling it in both hands, staring it at him, then the orb, then back at him. "Wait, you're not going to open that door, are you?!"

"Of course," he replied as if nothing were strange about this. He glanced at her with ofuda peeking through his fingers. "Do you not find it strange that a door is in such disrepair in such a prominent tea house?"

"Well of course, but I'm not going to just open some raggedy door where something could be lurking behind it!" She paused with her mouth hanging open. That was exactly _why _he was opening it.

He offered her a slight grin as she realized what he was intending. "Stay behind me." With a flick of his wrist, he plastered the boards with the paper ofuda, using the spell scrolls to help pry the boards off and open the door. The room was surprisingly not occupied by a mononoke, but it was unsettling enough without one.

He stepped into the room, Kayo nervously following him with the light orb. The room was incredibly neglected. A small decaying futon lay in the corner. The tatami mats had been scratched apart, some chicken scratch of characters scrawled into them. The door frame had been damaged, seemingly kicked and scratched at relentlessly to no avail.

"W-what happened here?" Kayo gasped. "What is that smell? It smells like rotting food."

"Flesh," he corrected her.

"F-flesh?!" Kayo yelped. "Don't tease me like that!" She stared at him, then quickly yelped again when she realized he wasn't teasing her.

The medicine seller stepped towards the futon, despite Kayo clawing at his sleeve to keep him from approaching. He shook his sleeve free, kneeling down to pull the futon covers back.

"Oh kami, I think I'm gonna be sick," Kayo slapped a hand over her mouth.

The medicine seller knelt down. The body that lay within the futon bed had decayed for some time, laying there in neglect, forgotten. "What blatant disrespect." Holding the covers in his hand, he noticed some writing near the bed. "Miss Kayo, the light please."

Nervously she held it out for him, not wanting to get closer to a dead body than she had to. The Sakai house was gruesome. This was getting close to that level. She was beginning to see why he referred to people as just 'humans' sometimes. He was distancing himself from them.

"'Help'," he read the script. "'I don't want to die. I just wanted our family to be together. Ichi.'"

"Ichi," Kayo stared, gaping. "That's the eldest sister's name, isn't it?"

The medicine seller pulled the covers back over the body respectfully, standing up. Humans could be so cruel, even to their own family. "The truth that created this mononoke... Ichi was neglected purposefully, locked in here and forgotten until she died. She didn't simply die. She was killed, perhaps to make the hinnagashi in a different manner."

The taima sword chattered.

Kayo furrowed her brow. "That's so cruel."

"The darker side of humanity," the medicine seller agreed. He took a step forward, pausing momentarily. In the distance, he could hear the bells of the scales jingling one at a time.

Kayo fumbled with the glowing orb. The mononoke had left the tea room. Or perhaps it was the second one. She wasn't really sure and she wasn't completely sure she wanted to know. But this was part of what the medicine seller did. She knew this. She'd have to try to put on a brave face and not crush the glowing orb in the process.

He turned on his socked feet, exiting the room. "Come, Miss Kayo."

"W-wait, isn't it safer in….." she stared at the futon with uncertainty. Staying in a room with a neglected dead body was the _last_ place she wanted to be right now. "No no, you're right." Kayo nearly clung to him as he headed deeper down the hallway and away from the stairs. The bells rang out in the distance one by one. The mononoke behind them was approaching slowly, but the medicine seller's words before that there could be two stuck to her mind like glue. Everything about this place was just creepy.

She gasped as she bumped into the medicine seller. Cautiously she peered around him, quickly regretting the choice. In front of him stood some life-size creepy doll that looked like a giant version of the dolls that sat on the top shelf of the bookshelf.

"You don't belong!" the doll hissed, its voice garbled and almost mechanical.

"Is that what angers you?" he questioned.

"You don't belong!" it repeated.

"Tell me your reason!" he demanded. "What makes you so angry?" Feeling Kayo grasp his kimono tightly, he glanced over his shoulder. A second doll had approached from the stairway. There _were _two, much to his dismay. Hopefully they were one and the same mononoke. Determining two truths and reasons would prove difficult if they weren't.

"Creatures like you!" the pair of dolls lashed out with their hair.

Fighting was normally straightforward for him. He simply fought, only caring to stop the mononoke. Humans sometimes died. He always remained unfazed by this. But now he had a companion, a human apprentice with him. Something about this woman made him actually care about a human.

He outstretched his arms, blocking the attacks with a wall of spell papers. He could feel the strain on his arms. These dolls were more powerful than he expected, their ire strong and unyielding. They did not want anyone else here.

The hair broke through the barrier. Thinking quickly, the medicine seller used his body to shove Kayo out of the way, taking the brunt of the attack himself. He was capable of withstanding the supernatural, while she was not.

She tumbled to the floor, clinging to the orb so she wouldn't drop it. With the light in her hands, she gasped, seeing the medicine seller now wrapped in doll hair like a bunch of black, spindly ropes. He'd protected her from the attack.

"You don't belong!" the dolls repeated in unison, using their hair to forcefully toss him through the paper doors and into the next room with a resounding crash followed by the sound of something breaking and giving way, then the sound seemed to continue below her.

Kayo stared in horror. That sounded bad, and even as non-human as he seemed, part of her doubted he would survive this in one piece. She didn't want to see him die. "Mr. Medicine Seller!"

**...**

**Author's musings**

The idea of having a dual mononoke amuses me. It can attack from both sides and creep Kayo out. Because what wouldn't be creepy about a pair of doll mononoke that seem to want to kill you? Not that a dead body behind a boarded up shoji door isn't creepy enough.


	12. Hinnagami

Kayo stared in horror at the broken door casting shadows in the light of the orb she now gripped tightly. Not only had the medicine seller been thrown through the wall and who knew what else, she was now left with the mononoke in the hallway, armed with only a paper lantern filled with phosphorus without knowing how to actually use the orb as a weapon.

She attempted to crawl to her feet, getting tangled in her kimono. She didn't want to be noticed by the mononoke but she'd already screamed his name. Or not-name. This wasn't the time for that sort of debate.

And now they were both staring at her. She gripped the orb, pressing herself against the wall with her knees bending towards each other. She glanced between them nervously as they approached. That was it. She was going to die now.

"He doesn't belong." They both pointed at hole in the wall.

She stared at the hole, uncertain what to do or say. They were talking to her, but they weren't attacking her. She glanced at each one then back at the hole. They were getting closer, but they still hadn't attacked or told her that she didn't belong.

"He doesn't belong," the repeated. "He had to go."

This was getting weird. She glanced between the two dolls again. They had drawn closer and closer. If they were human, she probably could've felt their breaths on her neck. "W-why don't you like him?"

"He wants to break up our family..." one replied.

"...with that taima sword!" the other finished the statement.

"Break up your family?" She asked nervously. She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on the conversation as if it were normal. She just wanted them to stop breathing down her neck. Perhaps if she could find their reason or perhaps even just reason _with_ them.

"Yes," one replied.

The second one continued. "We must be together."

"But didn't they….." Kayo paused. Saying the wrong thing would probably tick off the mononoke, right? Then again, she wasn't sure. The candle mononoke had actually reached out to the medicine seller, asking him to release the sword and end their suffering. Right now, the mononoke seemed almost as if it were lying to itself. She swallowed hard. "Didn't they abandon you in that room to die alone?" She squeezed her eyes shut, expecting to be thrown through a wall.

"What are you….." one began.

"...saying?" the second one ended.

She opened one eye, peering at the one on her right. "You're… you're Ichi's dolls, right? Ichi died alone in that room, abandoned."

"Abandoned," one said.

"Abandoned," the other repeated.

"Forever alone," they both added in unison.

"Is that why you're upset?" Kayo questioned a bit more boldly.

"We need to stay together," one answered.

"This is the only way," the second one continued.

Kayo frowned. This mononoke was disillusioned. She felt for it. She could understand why the medicine seller wanted to put them to rest. Mononoke really were suffering in one way or another, bound to emotions beyond their control. "By becoming their wishing doll while they reap the benefits?"

"Used," one said.

"By those we love," the second one added.

"Jealousy, abandonment, why can't we stay together?" the dolls continued in unison. "Shina is to blame." The dolls turned, their joints not bending very well as they staggered towards the hole the medicine seller's body made in the wall. "She broke up the family. She must be stopped."

Kayo gulped. She said something wrong. "Th-that's not what I mean! You don't need to go harm her!" She considered reaching forward, her hand halfway poised in the air. How was she supposed to stop a mononoke? She was just a human girl attempting to figure out the supernatural and medicine and whatever the medicine seller actually was.

She reached out to the dolls, but as her hand nearly brushed one's shoulder, the pair suddenly blinked forward through the hole, traveling awkwardly into the darkness. "Wait!" she called out to them. It was honestly the last thing she expected to say _to_ a mononoke ever, and yet there she was, yelling it into the darkness. She staggered forward, trying to step through the hole. She caught her kimono on the wood, snagging it and ripping it but she just yanked it free, continuing on.

"Mr. Medicine Seller!" she called out into the dark room. The orb was going out, the light finally dimming as the concoction within began to grow dark. But as it dimmed, she noticed a light streaming up from behind some boxes in the room. Carefully she rounded it, finding a gaping hole in the ground.

Below her was the tea room. The medicine seller had landed face first in the pile of dolls, crashing through the tea table and sending tea cups and snacks in all directions. To the side were Shina and Mitsu, cowering in the corner as the creepy dolls approached them. "Mr. Medicine Seller, wake up!"

He didn't seem to move.

She worried that he didn't survive the fall. She was so certain he wasn't human, that he was some supernatural being that just _looked _human. But perhaps he was just a strange-looking human who just happened to exorcise mononoke. Perhaps he was now dead. But she had to try. "Mr. Medicine Seller!" She squinted at him. During the fall, he must've used the taima sword to shield himself as he now gripped it in his hand.

"I think I know the reason!" she shouted. The sword seemed to stare at her. Was that thing alive? She shook her head. Now was not the time to contemplate what was or wasn't alive in this man's inventory. _Everything_ he had was marginally questionable.

"Regret!" she continued. "Ichi wanted everyone together, but she regretted that the tea house pulled everyone apart!" She stared at the sword. It hadn't reacted yet. There was more to this. He made it look so easy, how he could piece together the information.

"We wanted to be together!" the dolls shouted. "Ichi wanted a family!"

"What are you talking about?!" Mitsu cried. "Ichi died of a sickness! I wanted her to live!"

"Stupid little sister!" Shina began laughing. "Ichi just wanted family! It was always about family! She didn't care if this tea house was ruined or not! I couldn't let her marry off to that family and shut it down!"

Mitsu stared at her sister. "S-shina, what are you saying? Ichi was marrying up so we wouldn't have to worry about money anymore! She wanted to take care of us!"

"I shut her in that room to _die_!" Shina laughed. "I left her to rot! She's still there! Ahahahahaha!"

"You're awful!" Shina cried.

Kayo gasped, holding a hand over her mouth. People really could be awful. Dying in that room alone was bad enough. Mitsu's cruelty was a stab in the heart.

The medicine seller stirred. The taima sword reacted, chattering and shouting. "Release! Release!" That was the reason that had remained within the mononoke, fueling it until it came alive with rage. Ichi just wanted to take care of her family. She regretted not being able to keep everyone together while Shina's greed had broken the family apart.

He quickly took to his feet, withdrawing the chattering sword from its sheath. His inner self had awoken, now standing in the tea room with the dolls clamoring away, wishing for Shina's death. "Come, I'll put you to rest."

The dolls turned, seeing him standing there with long flowing blonde hair that seemed to move in an invisible wind. His dark eyes focused on the pair of dolls. He could see their pain, the suffering they had endured from the hatred and neglect. Humans truly could be awful to their own family. "You don't have to feel this pain anymore."

"Will we be together again?" the dolls questioned.

"Perhaps in time," he replied, drawing the blade to the side. A step forward and he slashed the sword in a wide arc, the dolls breaking apart as his blade cut through them.

Kayo blinked. The sword had shouted to be released but the next thing she knew, the medicine seller was standing on the ground in a lunge, pushing the sword shut. The dolls lay lifelessly on the side of the room as Shina cackled and Mitsu just cried, grabbing one of the dolls and sobbing into it miserably.

What had just happened? She was watching the whole scene play out, but it seemed like she missed him actually using the sword. For a moment, she was certain she saw someone else wielding it. She stared down into the tea room, gripping the dimming orb as she watched him stand up and tuck the taima sword back into his obi. He turned, stepping over the broken tables and dolls as he headed for the back door.

Kayo stood up, carefully stepping over the broken crates as she tried not to tear her kimono more as the quick turn of events attempted to replay in her mind.

Just who was the medicine seller, truly? _What_ was he?

….

"So what are you going to do now, Miss Mitsu?" Kayo questioned as they stood outside the tea house. It had been boarded up and shut down quickly after the guests within had suddenly been teleported back outside and into the festival. Rumors of hauntings and yokai quickly spread, and the tea house was no longer popular as Shina had wished.

"I don't know," Mitsu shook her head. "I can't believe Shina would do that to Ichi. I can't believe this was all because she wanted to get rich off the tea house." She sighed, watching as the people passing by turned away from the once-popular building. "We'll think of something. Maybe _I_ will. I'm not sure I can stay knowing what Shina did."

"Look, take it from someone who had to leave their house because of a mononoke," Kayo placed her hands on the other girl's shoulders. "You'll probably find yourself wandering, but in time, you'll find something that calls to you."

Mitsu perked up a bit. She hadn't expected Kayo to understand, but she knew exactly the feeling. They were kindred spirits. "You know, you're right. I'll find something. I just hope Ichi knows that I will always love her and that I miss her."

The medicine seller turned. A woman in a decorative flowered kimono carrying a doll stepped through the boarded doorway. Down the stairs she strode and past the group, hugging the doll tightly. "_I know that we'll be together soon._" She paused for a brief moment, staring up at the medicine seller. She smiled at him brightly with almost a childlike grin as she placed a hand on Mitsu's shoulder.

He grinned a bit as the soul disappeared into the crowd. No matter how many souls he'd released, seeing them free of their ire was nothing short of satisfying. Silently he turned, heading back towards the crowd.

Mitsu blinked, confused at what made him smile. "He's an odd one, isn't he?"

Kayo nearly laughed. "He'd deny that if you said it to him. But he was probably looking at the soul released from the mononoke."

"Ichi's?"

"Yeah, more than likely." Kayo nodded. "He doesn't see the world like we do." She wasn't entirely sure _how_ he actually saw the world, but it definitely wasn't in any human sort of way. He always seemed to be looking at things that weren't there. Or didn't look to be there for her. "Actually, I don't know what he sees."

Mitsu placed a hand on her own shoulder. It almost felt someone was with her, even if just for a moment. "Perhaps some things are best left unknown." She dug into her kimono sleeve, pulling out a small coin purse. She pulled some coins from it. "Here. I don't have much, but at least I should thank you for helping us."

Kayo stared at the offered coins. The offering was meager and Kayo desperately wanted edamame for dinner, but something told her to not take it. She placed her hand around Mitsu's, curling it closed. "It's not that I'm not grateful, but you'll need it to start your travels."

Mitsu smiled softly. "You're far too kind, Miss Kayo."

"Maybe we'll cross paths again," Kayo grinned. "But maybe not. When you cross that guy's path, it _always_ involves mononoke." She turned to point at him, noticing he was barely visible at the edge of the crowd. "He keeps doing that! Heeeeeey! Mr. Medicine Seller! Wait up!" She pulled at the edges of her kimono, frowning at the tear but continuing on anyway. She paused to turn back and wave at Mitsu. "Best of luck!"

"You as well!" Mitsu waved back. What an odd pair they were, but she was thankful they had crossed her path. Now she had her own path to figure out and what the future may hold for her.

**...**

**Author's notes**

Meaning of the names of the sisters:

Ichi – "One". eldest sister

Shina – "Possessions". I thought it sounded good. middle sister

Mitsu – "Third". youngest sister

I like the idea that the medicine seller's other self isn't seen by most people. It's hard to say since oftentimes the people around him are distracted or hiding or something in between. He is a mysterious one. What does he see? Is he human? Who knows!


	13. The shrine's straw dolls

She pulled at the edge of her kimono, admiring the delicate stitches repairing the rip. She'd snagged it trying to deal with those creepy doll mononoke but there was no way they had the funds to repair it. Kayo wasn't even sure how he managed to peddle enough of his wares to feed the both of them.

She also didn't know where he _got_ the wares. He never seemed to stop to replenish the stash in the medicine case, but it was always full. Perhaps he just had a larger stash than she initially thought. That case was pretty heavy when she'd carried it before.

Maybe he could stash the thing with yen, but that would be pretty suspicious for a merchant to be carrying that much around.

So instead of having the kimono repaired, the medicine seller stitched it up himself quite artfully and the two had enjoyed edamame with the money they didn't spend in the repairs. It was a rare treat, but after the last disaster customer they had encountered, they needed it. "I still can't believe the nerve of that lord whatever his name was."

"He was certainly not the worst," the medicine seller dismissed the potential customer's blatant rudeness.

"Not the _worst?_" Kayo gaped. "The guy had a blade at your throat! Then again, Odajima did end up tying you up back at House Sakai."

"Still not the worst," he shrugged, playing with some of the edamame in his hand. "At least they had the decency to escort us out and not haul us off to the authorities like one person did. Hardly a pleasant experience, I assure you. Not particularly something worth repeating."

Kayo frowned sharply. He sure had gone through a lot for the sake of just plain making an honest living and even more to put mononoke to rest. He seemed so nonplussed about it that it was hard to really tell how much he'd actually endured before they began traveling together.

"Thankfully there were no mononoke in that house," he added, digging a nail into one of the edamame. "That certainly would've made the situation worse. Nobles of that sort do not take so well with accusations they caused some manner of supernatural suffering."

"Not that they take any accusation well," Kayo huffed. "Or swords. They get really touchy about that one. But if there _had_ been a mononoke there, you'd put it to rest, right?"

"Of course," he replied simply. He stopped at the stone stairs leading up the mountainside flanked by a pair of carved stone guardians. A pair of foxes with red scarves. He snapped the edamame in half with his teeth, chewing on it as he peered up the stairs.

Kayo turned, noticing she was about to ask a question to someone who had already stopped walking. She'd never seen him stop at a shrine before or show any interest. Most people were pretty religious, stopping at a shrine to gain the kami's blessing, but he'd never once suggested to stop. Perhaps not being human was part of it. Or whatever he was.

She still was certain he wasn't human. He certainly looked the part of a human medicine seller, but there were details that made her think twice about his identity. Those ears, those pronounced fangs he had, whatever happened when he'd actually released the taima sword. There was definitely something odd about him but any questions about it would of course be evaded.

He stared up at the foxes for a moment, oblivious to Kayo's internal debate. The statues were guardians to the shrine to Inari. They were the kami's messengers. But it wasn't the statues that had interested him the most. It was the supernatural sense scratching at the back of his neck. It was a shrine, so that was to be expected, but something about this particular one had called out to him for a brief second.

"You should probably stop your husband from going into that shrine. Weird stuff has been happening there."

Kayo nearly leapt, so lost in her own thoughts she didn't hear the pair of girls in kimono carrying some baskets had approached on the sleepy road. "He's not my husband," she grumbled.

"Oh?" the medicine seller turned, his interest piqued by the girl's words. It could be baseless rumors, but he did like to gossip now and again. "What sort of weird stuff?"

"There've been a lot of wara-ningyo nailed to trees in the shrine grounds," one girl informed him.

Wara-ningyo were just straw dolls usually nailed to trees to ward off evil spirits or sickness. They were generally pretty benign as they just didn't have the magical energy to cause much damage except under the most unusual circumstances. "Have there been any illnesses recently?"

The second girl shook her head. "Not that we've heard of. There are far too many wara-ningyo to be for that anyway."

"Last I heard there were at least two dozen," the first girl added. "Apparently the miko keep taking them down and they keep showing up."

"Well that's just weird," Kayo reasoned. "Someone has to be putting them there, right?"

"Might be a ghost," the first girl reasoned. "I heard rumors that a woman with long hair in a white kimono has been seen going up the stairs in the middle of the night. Supposedly she had fire on her head and a mirror on her chest. No one's ever seen her come back down but it's really late at that point anyway."

Kayo pursed her lips. "It's just some girl, right? Right?" She turned to the medicine seller for even just the slightest of nods but quickly huffed when she noticed he looked somewhat intrigued by the story. They'd encountered a few weird rumors that turned out to be benign. The only true rumor recently was the creepy dolls at the teahouse. It was possible it was just simply a rumor. Still, she shuttered.

"Just make sure you've left the place before midnight," the second girl added. "I wouldn't want to come across the woman in white either way."

"We should get back," the first girl tugged on the second's sleeve. "The lady of the house'll be angry if we're late again."

Kayo frowned a bit as the two girls continued down the sleepy road. "We're going to check out the rumors, aren't we?"

A smirk tugged at the edges of his lips. She was beginning to understand how this all worked. Simple rumors or not, there could be some basis to them especially with the presence of so many wara-ningyo nailed to trees. _Something_ supernatural was here and it wasn't the shrine guardians. "Perhaps they could use some inks for their spell papers."

If it weren't for her stomach and the need to fill it, she probably would've fussed at him for turning it into a business venture. But she'd been traveling with him enough to know that he needed an excuse to be invited in. And getting some more funds wouldn't be a bad idea. "Hey, if you're going to keep playing with those edamame, at least let me have them."

He plucked one from his hand, offering the rest to her. He was satisfied with chewing on just one. It was a rather crisp edamame, making it rather satisfying to snap as they traveled up the stairs. His geta clacked against the stone as they climbed higher and through a number of torii gates. Each one was said to purify the soul. A mystery in how something supernatural and possibly malicious could've gotten through so many. Perhaps it never left.

She peered at the fox statues that appeared to be watching them. At least they appeared to be rather cute with their red bibs around their necks.

The medicine seller was focused on something else. As they reached the top of the hill and crossed through the last torii, he felt something brush his senses for a moment before quickly moving away once again. The shrine was surrounded by large trees, a few sporting large nail holes with bits of straw stuck within them. Tree after tree seemed to have a hole. There really had been a number of them recently.

With no visitors in sight, the miko had busied themselves with sweeping and tending to the shrine. One of the shrine maidens approached with a rather bright smile looking like she hadn't seen a visitor in days. "Welcome."

Kayo peered at the miko for a moment, half expecting to be thrown out, but this was a shrine not some nobleman's house. She mirrored the medicine seller as he offered the miko a bow.

"Do you perhaps," the medicine seller stood back up, "need some fresh inks?"

"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Medicine Seller." The miko frowned a bit. "Without visitors to the shrine, we haven't been able to write many fortunes with the supplies we have."

He considered leaving for a bit to return that night and see the woman in white himself. He could quickly determine if the rumors were true or not, but it wouldn't exactly help slay a mononoke if it did appear. He'd need to speak to the living to fully understand how it came to be. "Perhaps a fortune will do instead. I do hope our luck will improve."

"Oh my, I hope you haven't had too much bad luck," the miko said thoughtfully.

"Just some rude people," Kayo mumbled.

A grin tugged slightly at his lips as he chided her despite it. "Manners, Miss Kayo."

The miko smiled at the pair. "Let's hope a few prayers will help turn your luck to the positive. It'd be a shame for a husband and wife to be so down."

Kayo huffed. It was a logical assumption that she'd be the _wife_ and not the _apprentice_. It was how roles often were, but it was getting rather old how people simply assumed it each time.

"Apprentice," he corrected the miko.

"Oh my, I'm so terribly sorry," the miko bowed.

"It happens often." He focused on the miko for a moment, his senses tingling once again. Perhaps it was being so close to the shrine that sent his senses into a knot, but he had to be certain. Yokai could live at a shrine perfectly fine, as could the kami themselves. If the yokai or even the spirits crossed into the mononoke realm, that's when they became concerning. He'd hoped that a shrine would at least not be a place for a mononoke to be born, but humanity could be ugly anywhere.

"Yes the fortune," the miko laughed nervously. "Follow me." She turned, leading them down the stone walkway, past the collection of several dozen round tubs of fermenting sake and large bells that swayed slightly in the winds. There was a small fountain at the start of the plaza where the trio washed their hands before entering the grounds.

The medicine seller noted more trees on the outskirts of the plaza had holes in them as well as a few structures on the grounds as well. The columns of the gazebo housing a large bell had a few fresh holes in the wood. That was far too many wara-ningyo than was really necessary.

In the distance he spotted a rather large graveyard scaling up the hillside. A pair of foxes guarded the graveyard, watching over it carefully and perhaps guarding it from whatever was now inside the shrine's walls. The markers scaled farther up the hill than he could see, marking the shrine as rather old. A few small shrines dotted the edges of the grounds as they walked towards the main building.

"Ah a visitor. Welcome welcome," the shrine priest beckoned them forward. "I am Yoshimune, the priest here at this humble shrine. And this here is Fuku, our head miko."

_Good Faith_. _A rather inviting name for a priest_, the medicine seller mused to himself. _With a head miko named Good Fortune._

"I'm Kayo," she introduced herself. She wasn't even sure how to introduce the medicine seller. She still didn't know if he really had a name. "And he's-"

"No one particularly interesting," the medicine seller interrupted.

The priest laughed, amused by how quickly the medicine seller had avoided giving his name. For someone claiming to not be interesting, he sure was intriguing. "I take it you two are interested in some fortunes?"

The medicine seller nodded. "We are-" His words were quickly drowned out by a shrill scream echoing across the empty courtyard. He turned towards the source of the screams, the scene in the courtyard catching even him by surprise. Across the courtyard were dozens of wara-ningyo nailed to the wooden posts. Across the courtyard stood several terrified miko gripping their brooms as they stared at more wara-ningyo on the nearby trees and even their brooms. Anything that could have one nailed to it, did. "Oh my."

Of course he would say that. Kayo could feel her knees knock together in fear and all he could say was 'oh my.' Those things weren't there a moment ago. She would've noticed them. Just how did they all appear so fast. "Is… is it…."

"I do believe so, Miss Kayo." He set the medicine chest down on the ground as he observed the scene laid out before them. "This is the work of a mononoke."

**...**

**Author's musings**

Shrines to Inari are pretty popular throughout Japan, dedicated to the kami of foxes, rice, tea, sake, agriculture, and a handful of other things. The foxes are messengers to the gods and always have a little red bib on the statues.

I'm amused by the idea of Kayo questioning the medicine seller's humanness. The basis comes from various theories that he's only half human, the other half might be kitsune. Certainly not impossible. There are legends about half human, half kitsune people who have incredible magic. But who knows. He could just be a very strange human!


	14. Nailed into the wood

Dozens upon dozens of wara-ningyo were now nailed to anything and everything wooden. To the incense gazebo, to the sake containers, to the trees, and even to the brooms. Everything except the place where they now stood. It was the only place that seemed to be devoid of dolls and holes.

The medicine seller glanced between the wara-ningyo across the courtyard and the lack of them nearby. He seemed perfectly calm even with Kayo now clinging to him, quite the opposite of everyone gathered. He had to admit that many wara-ningyo suddenly appearing was a first, but there was no need to panic about it. Yet. It seemed to be a symptom rather than the mononoke itself.

"There's no way there could be a mononoke here," Fuku stared in shock. "This is sacred grounds."

Kayo peered around the medicine seller to the miko. It was the first time someone seemed to know what a mononoke was, but this was a shrine maiden. They had supernatural knowledge, after all.

"Mononoke can be borne anywhere humans are capable of creating such strong emotions and regrets," the medicine seller noted. There was a graveyard here. Funerals and weddings and prayers happened all in the same place. But simply having these here weren't enough to spawn a mononoke. The death had to happen _here_ and it likely wasn't pretty.

"Worry not, I'll construct some wards to keep this thing at bay," Yoshimune announced.

Kayo watched the priest scamper off with a bottle of ink and a brush along with some papers and other oddities. His tools were nothing like what the medicine seller used, and he seemed to scurry more than do anything effectual. "Is that even going to work?" She unwound herself from him hesitantly, setting her feet back on the ground and eyeing the medicine chest. "Should we help him?"

The medicine seller smirked in amusement. The man was trying but given how quickly and quietly the mononoke's effects showed up, it was unlikely anything he tried would do any good.

"Yoshimune is quite good wards," Fuku informed them. "I'm sure whatever dark spirit or yokai that has found its way into the shrine, he can ensure that it doesn't return. Sumi, we should start removing the wara-ningyo again." She turned to a nearby miko who stood frozen in fear.

Sumi nodded hesitantly before nearly gluing herself to Fuku as the two left.

Kayo watched the pair scamper off, turning back to the medicine seller. He had barely moved since the wara-ningyo had appeared. He hadn't reached for the taima sword or the scales or even suddenly plastered the area with spell papers. Then again, how _does_ one plaster an entire shrine plaza with ofuda papers? She peered at him some more, noticing that he seemed to be staring at something that wasn't the priest or the miko.

"You suspect something, don't you?" she asked, not sure how much of an answer he'd actually give. He was often quiet about things until they were gossiping. In the past two months, she'd come to understand that he didn't always communicate in words. He was hard to read, but his actions did speak a conversation.

"Who knows," he replied.

She puffed up. She expected the vagueness, but once in awhile, she'd like _something_ in reply.

"Wara-ningyo are often used in protection spells, but they can be used for curses as well," he continued after a moment of her glaring at him. "I do wonder which one it could be." The statement was rather ironic. It was obviously the latter, as a protection spell would hardly be the source of a mononoke's ire even if it were to protect against a mononoke. Someone was trying to curse someone else and something went wrong. Or perhaps it went horribly right.

He finally moved, flipping open the top compartment of the medicine chest and slipping the taima sword into his obi. They wouldn't have much time before the mononoke returned. It definitely wasn't the first time it had shown up given the number of wara-ningyo holes in the trees and wooden structures.

He beckoned for Kayo to follow him, knowing full well she wouldn't wish to stay alone out in the open. His geta clacked against the stone terrace as he approached the nearest structure, the wooden house for the large bell and incense. A multitude of straw dolls were nailed to the post, each without marking or connection to who or what was intended to be cursed. He reached forward, wedging the nail out of the wood and pulling the wara-ningyo down.

Kayo peered at the straw doll in his hand. She'd had enough of creepy dolls after the encounter in the tea house and enough of things that _looked _like people after those creepy candles. What _hadn't_ been creepy since she started traveling with him?

"You can drop them in here."

Kayo and the medicine seller turned to find the younger miko, Sumi, holding out a basket filled with a few wara-ningyo already.

"Is this a common occurrence?" he asked, dropping the straw doll into the basket.

"Only the past few days," the miko replied. "Each time, there are more and more of these things. The locals are afraid and no one comes to visit the kami anymore. I don't know what started this. It used to be just once in awhile we'd find one, not find the whole shrine covered in them."

"Once in awhile?" Kayo questioned.

"Sometimes people would sneak into the shrine at night to perform so-called spells," Sumi replied. "Nothing more than superstition. I hear it happens to other shrines in the area. I've never really thought too much about it until now."

"Well that would explain the rumors about a woman in a white kimono," Kayo reasoned. She stared at the medicine seller as he meticulously pulled the nails out of the wood with his fingers alone.

He paused for a moment to stare at the last doll he pulled from the wall. It was the one highest up, but it seemed to have a small amount of light-colored hair stuck in the straw. It didn't appear to be human hair, not matching a natural color unless the origin of the mononoke was a foreigner. "Have there been any deaths lately?"

"Deaths?" Sumi questioned, peering at the medicine seller than quickly turning back to her work. He was asking a lot of strange questions. "We haven't even done funerary rights for days."

"Not even a death here in the shrine?" he pressed for more information. She was hiding something, perhaps some portion of the truth that she didn't wish to reveal.

She glanced at him for a moment before picking up the basket and moving around the corner just out of sight. "Not unless you count the dead crow I found in the pond."

Kayo peered at the miko. She was sure acting suspicious. Maybe she could convince the miko to speak with a bit of girl talk. She managed to get the doll mononoke to speak and to convince them of the truth, even though that kinda backfired and the medicine seller was thrown through the wall. Maybe she could make it work right this time before people were thrown through walls.

She practically pushed up her sleeves, rounding the corner to wrap an arm around the miko's shoulders. "Why don't we have a little talk, woman to woman."

Sumi stared at Kayo for a moment. "I don't think that's-"

"Oh come now," Kayo waved off the concern. "You're too uptight. I get it. This sort of thing is wild."

The medicine seller smirked in amusement. Kayo sure was getting good at this sort of supernatural investigative business, even if it frightened her a good majority of the time. She offered a more feminine and human approach than he could ever offer. Perhaps that was necessary given how the miko all seemed to skirt around the priest.

Speaking of which, the priest had busied himself with writing something along the stone walkways in thick ink. It seemed like such a waste of ink, but perhaps the medicine seller could sell him something a bit more potent when this was all done. He had to get funds for food somehow.

He set the straw doll on the edge of the incense housing and approached the priest. He watched him write, staring at whatever pointless drabble the man was actually writing. The script was gibberish, just a series of characters that actually weren't proper kanji at all. It had no effectual meaning or purpose whatsoever. Certainly strange for the priest of the shrine not to know simple wards. There was just something about how this priest carried himself that just irked the medicine seller.

"Worry not, I'll be done with this soon," the priest informed the medicine seller. "No need to be frightened about mononoke or any of that nonsense."

"I see." The medicine seller didn't exactly seem impressed with a priest who dismissed the supernatural so easily. He was beginning to doubt this priest was actually legitimate. "Have there been supernatural issues here before?"

"Of course not," the priest quickly dismissed the notion. "This is sacred ground, after all."

The medicine seller frowned just a bit, shifting his stance as something pulled at his senses. Something was watching them, and this man was completely unaware. He wasn't exactly concerned with the man's wellbeing, but if he was somehow linked to the mononoke, keeping him alive would help find the three truths he needed.

"Nothing to worry about," the priest reiterated.

But there was something to worry about. The sound of sandals slapping against the stone walkway began to ring out in the relative quiet of the shrine. The priest tensed up, dropping the brush. All the miko were behind him but the sound was in front of him.

Nothing had yet manifested but the priest felt the swift slap of something cold, the impact sending him careening past the medicine seller and rolling across the stone terrace. He skidded to a stop, his robes battered and torn as he pushed himself up. "But the wards!"

The medicine seller ignored the priest's cries about the wards, turning back to the source. The mononoke was still here. He could feel the cold chill of something standing before him but he still couldn't see it.

He pulled the mirror from his necklace, flipping it out to face whatever stood before him. "I know you're there. Reveal yourself so I can quell your rage!"

The mirror's magic revealed someone surprisingly human. She wasn't very tall, dressed in miko's attire. Her white top was stained in blood and ripped near the heart. Her long black hair was pulled back and tied with a white ribbon. The most telltale sign that she wasn't human as she seemed was the large, toothy grin that stretched nearly ear to ear.

"Oh my." Well this wasn't what he expected.

**...**

**Author's musings**

Well well well, the mononoke has finally made herself known. Not that several hundred wara-ningyo suddenly making an appearance wasn't a good indication one was near.

I've always fancied the medicine seller using the mirror in combat. He only uses it during the umibozu arc, but I was fascinated with how he was using it as an extension of himself in combat and in investigations. Here he's used it to find the mononoke, whatever she is.

Also that priest. He seems pretty useless, doesn't he?


	15. The wara-ningyo miko

The mononoke stood before him as a bloodied miko who must've suffered a terrible death. A stab through the heart by the looks of it, almost as if a nail had been driven through her chest like a wara-ningyo. She grinned nearly ear to ear with almost animalistic teeth peeking out from behind her slightly opened lips. Her brilliant eyes stared at him as if they were trying to bore through his soul. Her ears pointed upwards, peeking out of her long black hair.

The medicine seller stood poised for an attack, the mirror in his right hand, the taima sword in the left. He watched her cautiously even though she had made no move to attack him.

"Kichi!" the screech rang out across the courtyard followed by straw sandals slapping against the stonework. "Kichiiii!"

"No, stop, Miss Sumi!" Kayo grabbed for the miko, snagging her by the collar. "That's not your missing friend!"

"Kichi?" the medicine seller echoed, staring at the mononoke before him. How strange for the mononoke to take the form of the one slain. Or perhaps the one slain had fallen and became the mononoke herself. He couldn't discern her form at all, but it was definitely some sort of front. That inhuman grin was a rather good indicator.

'Kichi' jabbed a finger out, first at the medicine seller then pointed right past him. "Fake." The voice was warped and garbled, marred by whatever anger held her to this world.

The medicine seller glanced over his shoulder. Still crumpled behind him was the priest who wrote garbage and passed it off for a protection spell. "Is he your truth? Is he the reason you are linked to the wara-ningyo?" The taima sword didn't chatter for either guess. Something wasn't adding up here.

'Kichi' continued to point. "Fake. Fake!" She stepped forward, rubbing her sandals into the ink scrawled across the stone. "Fake!"

The medicine seller had guessed that the priest was involved in the truth but perhaps that was only part of the truth. Someone definitely killed her, but it didn't seem to be the priest. Only Fuku had approached him earlier while the rest seemed to keep away. He was involved somehow, but it wasn't the truth. Not directly, at least. He was somehow linked with the reason, but the medicine seller couldn't yet see the connection. It was an unusual circumstance, the reason possibly not linked to the truth of her creation. But mononoke didn't always think as humans did. There was some other connection.

"Fake!" 'Kichi' screeched.

"Take out that unholy creature!" the priest shrieked.

"Ho~? I thought that was your job," the medicine seller commented snidely.

"Is now really the time for that?" the priest hissed.

The medicine seller's attention quickly darted back to Kichi as the mononoke lashed forward. He leapt backwards, returning the mirror to his necklace and the sword to his obi. Moving his hands in a sweeping motion, he summoned the paper ofuda in a single line. Pushing his hands together, he opened them to manifest more and more rows of ofuda before twirling his wrist in a circular motion. The ofuda papers barreled forward, encircling 'Kichi' in a paper barricade.

"How is he doing that?" Sumi stared. "Just who is he?" She glanced at Kayo for a moment, but Kayo didn't really have an answer.

"Someone who can help put the mononoke to rest," Kayo answered vaguely. Now she was the one with vague answers.

"But how could Kichi become a mononoke?" Sumi worried. "Fuku said she just went home for a few days. I thought everything was fine!"

Kayo glanced across the courtyard to Fuku. The miko stared uneasily at Kichi, gripping her broom. Perhaps Kayo had cornered the wrong miko to get information. Sumi did seem to know something and was desperately hiding it, but Fuku may have been the last one to see Kichi alive.

She glanced across the courtyard, seeing the medicine seller with his hands full.

The ofuda lit ablaze suddenly, exploding one by one in a column of blue fire. The medicine seller leapt back as small fireballs streaked across the courtyard, one setting the charm stand ablaze.

"Miss Kayo!" he shouted over his shoulder. "Baking soda will put that out! Use the supply in the _bottom_ drawer!" He hadn't seen blue fire for awhile. It was only used by various races of kitsune, of foxes. There were plenty in the area with a shrine to Inari. They were the kami's sacred messengers after all.

"I see. Your form is a kitsune." The sword chattered in response as he leapt to avoid several more blue fireballs. It explained the pointed ears and pronounced teeth. He hadn't spotted any tail or more fox-like features, but kitsune could shapeshift into whatever they desired.

Kitsune could take two general forms. The benevolent form was of a protector of a shrine. At times these kitsune could also punish wicked priests, which could explain the ire towards the priest. But there were also the tricksters, the ones with malicious intent. As this Kichi seemed to be entwined with the kitsune, it was a good chance the mononoke originated from the former.

Kayo pulled up the edges of her kimono, quickly scampering over to the medicine chest. Hefting it on her shoulders, she pulled it away from the flames before setting it back down. She knew well where the baking soda was _normally_ kept, but the medicine seller had specifically mentioned the bottom drawer. That was where he often kept the more mystical supplies, the scales, the large orbs, the suspicious amounts of gunpowder.

Pushing up her sleeves, she rummaged through the drawer, locating the small container labeled baking soda. There was far too little to put out the now raging blue fire. She had her back turned to the battle, but the shadows beside her began to grow larger quickly. She turned, her eyes wide as the blue fire erupted towards her.

She grasped for the medicine chest, tripping over her sandals as a rush of blue and brilliant colors quickly stopped the flames. There he was again, protecting her at his own expense. His left arm was showing signs of battle with a few burns and some scratches.

"Put a pinch of baking soda into one of the lanterns and toss it into the fire," he quickly instructed as he summoned more spell papers. They were quickly proving ineffective against the kitsune's increasing rage. At this rate, she'd burn the entire forest down before he could quell the mononoke's ire.

Kayo quickly went to work, understanding the urgency of the situation. She pulled the lantern out of the bottom drawer, popping it open with a flick of her wrist. "Mr. Medicine Seller, I think Fuku's involved in this somehow. I think she was the last to see Kichi alive."

"How interesting," the medicine seller remarked, pulling the mirror from his necklace once again to deflect the fire. The mirror was proving more effective than the spell papers for now. Fox fire was incredibly potent. If this kept up, he might not be able to actually slay the mononoke this time.

"Sumi thought Kichi left because of the priest Yoshimune," Kayo added. "But Sumi quickly clammed up after mentioning that."

"So the priest is involved," the medicine seller understood. "Work to get that fire out. If the lantern fails, there's a black fire snake in the second drawer."

"W-wait, you want to use a firework on the _fire_?!" Kayo gasped.

"It's concentrated baking soda," the medicine seller informed her. "The worst it'll do is smell very bad." He turned back to the situation at hand, leaving Kayo to handle the baking soda. The mononoke had suddenly stopped attacking, the mononoke suddenly disappearing back into the woods. It was a moment of respite he hadn't expected.

He looked over the scene, first at the priest cowering behind the incense hut then at Sumi barely able to stand at the back edge of the courtyard. On the opposite side of the incense hut was Fuku, the one who may have been the last to see Kichi alive. This wasn't the sort of scene he'd expected to find at a shrine of people trained to work with the supernatural. It was a rather large mess.

He placed the mirror back on his necklace and the taima sword back into his obi as he stepped forward, the geta shouting out over the deafening silence. He stopped halfway across the courtyard, pointing first at the priest. His arms now possessed multiple burn marks and a few scratches from the battle he'd just endured. "Talk."

"W-why me?!" the priest stammered. "It's not like that monster in Kichi's skin actually said anything true!"

The medicine seller stared at him unimpressed. "Your protection spells are gibberish."

"How dare you!" the priest emerged from his hiding place to point angrily at the medicine seller. "You're nothing but a simple merchant! You're-"

The medicine seller cut him off as he stepped forward. He was shorter than the priest, even with the geta giving him a good few inches in height, but he didn't need a height to intimidate anyone. It was the sharp stare that could bore a hole through the man's heart and the small glint of fangs at the back of his teeth.

"What… what _are _you?" the priest stared.

"Perhaps the better question is who are _you _truly?" the medicine seller quickly reversed the conversation.

"He's a fake!" The sharp words rang out across the courtyard.

The priest turned towards Fuku, scowling.

"He's an absolute fake!" she repeated. "We all know it! And if anyone mentions it at all, he beats us. He's just a tradesman trying to make a quick yen off the people who want to honor Inari!"

The priest looked taken aback. "What lies are you trying to tell, Fuku?!"

The medicine seller didn't need anyone to respond to understand Fuku's statement was true. The miko had suddenly backed away, cowering. Sumi looked as if she would cry. "I see." The taima sword hadn't reacted yet, but this sort of despicable act was bringing them closer to the truth.

The priest reeled back in anger, attempting to strike the medicine seller. He simply thwarted the attack with a single finger, stopping the priest with little effort. "How did she die?"

"How the hell should I know?!" the priest hissed.

For once, he seemed to be telling the truth.

"He didn't kill her." Fuku gripped the broom tightly, tears streaming down her face suddenly. "I did."

**...**

**Author's musings**

Apologies for the delay.

Kayo is definitely getting better at picking things up for investigations.

I had found his use of the mirror as a mononoke-combating device in the Umibozu arc fasicnating. It was a pity that ability wasn't used again. So here it is! Ofuda won't work well against fire, so the medicine seller has to resort to other tricks to prevent the mononoke from burning down the place. Though with how angry Kichi is, something's bound to get burnt.

Baking soda can actually put out fires. I found some mention that black fire snake fireworks could be used as a means to extinguish strong fires. It just smells reallky gross when you do. Whether or not it's true, I'm not going to be one to test this.


	16. Forbidden spells

Sumi could feel herself shaking. She gripped the broom so hard, she nearly snapped it in half. First Kichi had been turned into some kind of mononoke. Now she heard that Fuku had killed her. This was far too much. "How…. how could you?! Kichi's our friend!"

"It wasn't intentional!" Fuku protested. "I didn't want to do it!"

"What happened?" the medicine seller questioned calmly.

"I.. I wanted to expose Priest Yoshimune without harming the other miko," Fuku replied. "Each time we try to say anything, he would harm us. I don't want anything to happen to them."

The priest hissed, leaping forward to quickly shut Fuku up. "How dare-"

The medicine seller cut off his words by plastering an ofuda across his mouth and holding the priest against the incense hut with his hand. "Please continue."

Fuku looked unnerved at the priest for a moment but quickly realized that the medicine seller had effectively quieted him. "I wanted to perform a ritual. I knew he couldn't counter it, so I tried to perform the Ushi no koku mairi spell."

"The what now?" Kayo stumbled over the words with the fire now effectively out.

"Ushi no Koku Mairi," the medicine seller repeated. "One of the strongest and deadliest of spells known to black magics. It requires the caster to nail a wara-ningyo to a tree each night at the hour of the Ox when the world of the living and dead are closest. The caster must dress in a white kimono with a rather strange set of accessories on their person."

"The mysterious woman in white with fire on her head," Kayo reasoned.

"An upside-down cookpot tripod with the legs set ablaze," the medicine seller informed her. "A key part of the ritual."

"That sounds ridiculous," Kayo commented.

"But effective," he added. "If the target was Kichi."

"It wasn't!" Fuku protested. "I wanted to cast it on the priest! But there's a problem with the spell. If anyone sees you, you have to kill them. Kichi saw me."

Kayo gasped in horror.

"I thought about stopping the spell, but it was the only way to get rid of the priest so we don't have to endure his lies or shame!" Fuku continued. "I didn't mean to! I didn't want to do it! Kichi was my best friend!" She fell to her knees, sobbing.

The sword chattered. The truth of a mononoke was never easy, especially when one was forced to resort to black magics to save themselves from a terrible situation. The medicine seller didn't often feel for those who had committed atrocities to create a mononoke but this situation had become so painful for those involved, it had spiraled out of control. He felt for them. "And the reason for the mononoke, the pain which binds it to the human realm, is the regret that the spell wasn't yet complete."

The sword chattered in confirmation. "Release! Release!"

The medicine seller shoved it further into his obi. "Hush." The mononoke wasn't here yet. He'd have to wait until her return.

"We couldn't leave!" Fuku cried. "Kichi and I wanted to so many times! But each time, he threatened to exile us or publicly shame us as frauds! I should've just done the ritual _with _Kichi! She wouldn't have to die!"

"How terrible," Kayo sniffled. "They're like Lady Tamaki."

"Humans can be so cruel," the medicine seller empathized. He didn't move much as the fox fire erupted across the courtyard, setting the incense hut ablaze. The flames of the fox fire climbed high into the sky, encircling the hut, the medicine seller, and the priest. The smell of burning flesh reached his nostrils as he stood stall between the flames, the taima sword drawn in his hand. His long white hair billowed behind him, unaffected by the flames as he stared with his darkened eyes at the mononoke.

He could see its true form now, a kitsune contorted by a cruel situation. It was in pain, suffering, longing for freedom.

"You did not save the priest," the mononoke observed.

"I'm not here for him," the medicine seller remarked. "I'm only here to relieve you of your suffering."

The mononoke stared at the burning body of the priest. "I've done what I needed."

He observed the mononoke for a moment. Most of the mononoke he encountered were engulfed by their rage, but a few had been aware. Some had asked to be relieved of the pain. Others had accepted their fate. But this one. Her rage was quelled.

"I want to rest," the mononoke pleaded with him. "I want to finally taste freedom. Please tell Fuku that I don't blame her."

"I shall."

The flames began to die on their own. The hut was left charred along with the priest's burnt body next to it. The medicine seller knelt down on the ground, the taima sword held out to the side, a small fox laying dead at his feet. Tucking the taima sword into his obi, he picked up the fox, cradling it in his arms as he turned to Fuku.

The miko shook like a leaf, horrified and terrified, unsure of what to do with the fox the medicine seller now offered to her.

"She does not blame you, Miss Fuku," he informed her. "She wished for you to know that."

The miko stared at him, then the fox, then him again.

"The form that held the ire of her soul," the medicine seller explained the fox. "Bury it somewhere you believe she will rest."

The miko took the offered fox, sobbing miserably as she held it.

….

He shook out his arm as he gritted his teeth, the fang at the back visible with his frustration. The medicine stung almost as much as the fire had. He'd managed to only burn his arms and not the kimono. Arms could heal. Kimonos were expensive.

Sumi laughed a bit at his troubles. "For a man who fights the supernatural, I expected you'd have some supernatural way of healing."

"Just ordinary medicine for an ordinary medicine seller, that's all," he mused.

"Come here, Mr. Ordinary," Kayo yanked at his arm.

"Ow, stop, you're going to yank my arm off," he fussed.

"Stop being a baby, you can't wrap this on your own," Kayo insisted. She was well aware he was much stronger than she was. He could easily just take his arm back, but he'd conceded rather quickly. For someone she wasn't sure was human, he certainly felt human. He was warm to the touch and was wounded just like anyone else. Though she wasn't sure that anyone _completely_ human could've survived that fire quite like he did.

She began to carefully wind the bandages around his arm. She'd learned quite a bit about caring for someone in her travels with the medicine seller. She liked to think she'd become at least a little artful at bandaging and basic first aid.

"I really should thank you though, Mr. Medicine Seller," Sumi admitted. "I know the others are thankful as well. Even Fuku."

"Simply putting a mononoke to rest, that's all," he stated, digging for some soothing ointment in the medicine chest.

Sumi grinned a bit. He certainly was rather humble for what he just did. "It really wasn't the greatest of situations we endured, and I didn't even think it would end. I just wanted to honor Inari and become one of his miko. I didn't think I'd be trapped in this mess like I was. None of us did."

"Humans are capable of terrible things," the medicine seller remarked, "but they can be capable of good."

"He's right, you know," Kayo nodded. "People can be good. You could always start at a new shrine so you can still serve Inari. No shame in that, honestly. Find a place that treats you right and makes you feel good."

"Right," Sumi nodded. "We can't give up our desire to be miko. I just hope that Fuku will recover from everything."

"She probably needs time to mourn," Kayo reasoned. "Are you angry with her?"

"Of course," Sumi replied, "but that doesn't mean I really hate her for it. She was trying to help us all. Fuku's always been a big sister to us, taking all the abuse so we didn't have to. I want to do something for her after everything. Does it seem strange I would?"

Kayo shook her head. "You obviously care for her."

"I do," Sumi nodded, suddenly looking out at the courtyard. She noticed the medicine seller watching as well. There she was, Kichi walking through the courtyard in her full miko attire. She had a small parade of fox spirits following her. They seemed to march happily along the courtyard in a chipper rhythm before disappearing through the torii gate. Yeah, they would be just fine. They'd endured this far. Now it was time to start a new life without Yoshimune and his lies.

**...**

**Author's notes**

Meanings of the names:

Fuku – good fortune

Kichi – possibly means good luck

Sumi – blank ink

Yoshimune – good faith

The Ushi no Koku Mairi spell has to be the most bizarre thing I came across. It is considered the most powerful onmyodo black magic spells, but it also is the most utterly ridiculous thing I've read. What the medicine seller says is how the spell must be performed, all down to having a cookpot on your head with the legs lit on fire. Unfortunately if anyone witnesses the spell, it actually invalidates the magic unless you kill the witness. Poor Kichi.

The reference to the mononoke being a kitsune again points to the theory that the medicine seller isn't actually completely human! There are so many legends about half-kitsune people having extreme magics, and kitsune aren't harmed by their own fire (at least in some tales). Whether or not the medicine seller is half kitsune, I'll leave that up to you.


	17. The mahjong parlor

His arms had mostly healed from the fox fire, though certain spots still felt sensitive as the layers of fabric rubbed against them. Kayo had been insistent on tending to them, the medicine seller taking the opportunity to teach her about some of the burn ointments and treatments he knew. He didn't sell many of that sort of ointment, but it was good to have in their secondary line of work.

Kayo fanned herself with the round uchiwa fan. Traveling in summer was miserable, especially in the western regions, but they had to go where business called. She peered at the medicine seller, who looked completely unfazed by the heat despite wearing several layers of kimono. He stood on a cobbled street of the large city, staring up at a sign intently. He wasn't as focused on the characters as the supernatural feeling scratching at the back of his mind. Something was here or nearby. It could simply be a yokai, but there could be something more.

"Riichi Mahjong Parlor," Kayo read the sign. "Something interesting about it?"

"Perhaps," he replied vaguely.

Kayo frowned. It was that enigmatic response again. She had never seen him do anything fun, but a merchant didn't really have a lot of time for diversions. When they weren't busy trying to make a sale, there were always mononoke to fight.

She peered at him some more. Either he wanted to play or he thought of a possible sale. Perhaps there was something supernatural, but she didn't want to think about that. "Do you-"

"A medicine seller! Perfect!"

Kayo huffed for being interrupted, but the young woman in the purple flower kimono seemed intent on business. She had the fashionable updo hairstyle that many women sported, with a number of hair ornaments to indicate she was of a higher class than the pair she approached.

"Do you have wards?" the woman questioned quietly.

"I do," he replied simply.

Kayo peered at the woman from beside the medicine seller, concerned by the specifics of the wording. She wasn't certain how many medicine sellers carried something _other_ than medicines and things like teas, but _this _one definitely had a plethora of questionable and supernatural material within the drawers of the medicine chest backpack. "Is… is something wrong?"

The woman glanced back and forth, trying not to garner the attention of passers by that may potentially wish to play mahjong. "Come inside," she quickly beckoned them, ducking into the alleyway and opening a side door.

"Do you think it could be you-know-what?" Kayo whispered to him.

"Hard to say," he replied simply, heading down the alleyway.

She understood the answer. People were incredibly paranoid, and the more she traveled with the medicine seller, the more this became clear.

She slid the side door shut as the pair came inside. The back room was a simple kitchen with a singular table. Some of the cabinets had a broken hinge. Dishes were stacked on the counters, some with cracks in them.

"Please pardon the mess," the woman apologized. "It's part of the problem."

"Oh?" the medicine seller questioned as he set the chest down.

"For a week now, there have been strange times when food simply disappears or the cabinets are broken," the woman explained. "Hiroshi is certain that it's simply cats who get in at night, but I'm certain I've heard something behind me. My neighbor Chima suggested seeking out a medicine seller who might have wards to protect our food."

The medicine seller knelt down, hooking a finger into the handle of one of the upper drawers. "What do you believe it is?"

"A yokai," the woman replied bluntly. "There are rumors around the city that our parlor is haunted, and Hiroshi is worried that it will hurt business."

"And Hiroshi is your... brother?" Kayo questioned, noticing how informally she was speaking about him.

"He's my husband," the woman corrected her. "My name is Tsuma. We've been married for some time after I inherited the parlor from my late father. He's been so anxious lately. He knows as well as I that we cannot lose this parlor."

The medicine seller pushed a few things here and there, pulling out a small bird-like charm on a string with a bell. It looked similar to the scales he used but more birdlike and in blue. "Hang this over your door. If a yokai enters, it will ring. If it is simply a cat, it will not make a sound, though I cannot say the cat will not attempt to play with the bell." A slight grin tugged at the ends of his mouth, amused by the thought of a cat scaling a door frame to catch the bell.

Tsuma shuffled over, taking the charm in hand, observing how pretty it was. "And if it is a yokai?"

"It would depend on the type," he replied. "Yet from the description, it sounds more of a nuisance than a harmful visitor. Leaving scraps outside your door may suffice."

Tsuma stared at the charm some more, watching the bell jingle as it swayed a bit ain her grasp. It seemed simple enough, but she was still concerned about the whole scenario.

"Tsuma, we need-" The door to the kitchen slid open, and the man halfway entering halted to a stop when he saw there were guests. "A medicine seller and his wife?"

"Apprentice," Kayo corrected him.

"I see," he cleared his throat. "My dear, are you still on this yokai thing?"

"This will help us find who's destroying our kitchen each day, Hiroshi," Tsuma asserted, fishing a stool out of the corner. Setting it by the doorway, she hung the charm on a small nail, flicking it to make it jingle before hopping off the stool. "We can quell those rumors around town."

"Those rumors are already making waves," Hiroshi sighed. "We still can't fill all our tables. We have regulars and we're still short two."

"Again?" Tsuma sighed. "And I have so much to do after this mess."

Hiroshi pursed his lips a bit. "Medicine seller! Do you know how to play?"

"I do," he replied simply.

"So you _do _know how to have fun!" Kayo teased.

"Uh oh, you caught me," he smirked a bit, amused. "Miss Kayo, would you mind handling some basic warding? Though it may simply be a cat."

She had no idea what to do if a yokai did show up. Sure, she'd learned a lot from the medicine seller over the past few months about different classifications and types of yokai, more about the scales and types of wards, but actually facing a yokai was a different story. They still frightened her at times. Most of the time.

He leaned over, placing a hand on her shoulder before standing up wordlessly. It was the closest thing she had to a hint that he suspected something, but even after traveling with him, she still had trouble understanding how he thought or worked. She still wasn't sure _what _he was or if he had a name. Yet that one action told her he felt something was there and trusted her enough to handle the situation.

She swallowed a bit hard, remembering those doll mononoke, but she was his apprentice. She didn't have magic or supernatural abilities like he did, but that didn't mean she couldn't handle this. She tied back her sleeves. "I'll handle it. Miss Tsuma, do you have any salt?"

He offered Kayo the slightest of grins as he left the room. He did sense something, yet he still wasn't certain _what_. It could simply be spirits or something harmless clamoring about. The parlor seemed to have its own squeaks and creaks, indicating its age. He found himself idly pondering what this parlor once was before mahjong had crept its way over to Japan.

The parlor itself seemed rather empty, with one singular table occupied by a man and a woman with the mahjong tiles set up, waiting for players to arrive.

"Pardon the wait," Hiroshi apologized. "I've brought a new player this time."

"A medicine seller?" the woman in the decorative red kimono with brilliant flowers in her hair questioned.

The medicine seller offered a polite bow proper of his status. "Greetings."

"Well this could be interesting," the man in the kimono with ginko leaf crests mused.

"Do you really think so, Mr. Junsuke?" the woman questioned.

"He could bring a new strategy to the table, Miss Tama," Junsuke replied, "given that he knows more than the basics."

"I am familiar with many win conditions," the medicine seller informed them, sitting on his feet at the low table. Riichi Mahjong required certain conditions to win a round, much like a game of rummy or gin the rare foreigner liked to play. He hadn't played for some time, but he had played enough times to know the most common and valuable win conditions.

But he wasn't as focused on the win conditions as much as the atmosphere. Despite the parlor being empty, he felt like something else was here, something supernatural. It was entirely possible that a yokai was destroying their kitchen, but the presence seemed to permeate throughout much of the building. He glanced at each one of his companions. Any one of them could be carrying that supernatural scent.

He returned his focus to his hand, organizing the tiles into runs, pairs and groups. He didn't have much, but it was just the start of the game. And a few draws later, he didn't have much better, but he wasn't at a loss just yet. "_Pon_," he called, reaching across the table to take a discarded tile from Junsuke.

"An interesting play from an interesting man," Junsuke commented.

"There's nothing interesting about me," the medicine seller protested, placing his set of three tiles off to the side.

The door to the parlor slid open, Tsuma stepping in with a tray full of sweets. "I hope you all enjoy today's selection of treats."

"Oh you spoil us, Ms. Tsuma," Tama practically melted into the floor pillow as Tsuma placed the tray on the table.

Kayo padded in behind her, settling down next to the medicine seller. She leaned in, whispering into his ear. "I set up the salt barriers, but the bell started ringing without disturbing them then disappeared. I think it's already inside."

"You have such a lovely wife!" Tama exclaimed.

"Apprentice," the medicine seller corrected her. Kayo's information had confirmed what he'd been feeling.

"Oh you are intriguing," Tama looked far too pleased.

"I think you're mistaken," the medicine seller shook his head.

"A humble medicine seller," Hiroshi mused.

Kayo glanced back and forth at the group gathered around the table. They certainly seemed interested in the medicine seller, and she honestly couldn't blame them. He claimed to be uninteresting but he was everything but dull. She was intrigued herself, and she still didn't have answers.

"Excuse me for a moment," Tsuma interrupted, ducking out the door and sliding it shut. She shuffled off in the opposite direction of the kitchen.

Kayo watched her go, concerned that she shouldn't leave Tsuma alone. Yet as she glanced at the medicine seller, she noticed how intently he was watching the rest of the table. Something here intrigued him and she wanted to stick close to what was intriguing in case it really was a yokai or a mononoke. It was safer next to the medicine seller.

The table lurched for a moment, shifting from its original position just a little to the left. Kayo leapt, clinging to the medicine seller's arm. He quickly leapt up, taking Kayo with him as the table flipped over, scattering the tiles in all directions as some strange black tendril reached upwards from between the tatami mats.

"What is that thing?!" Tama screeched as she rolled backwards in surprise.

The medicine seller stared at the tendril, observing the flailing tendril. "A mononoke."

**...**

**Author's musings**

When I was looking for a traditional game, my first thought was Japanese-style mahjong. It's an enjoyable, challenging strategy game that plays a lot like gin or rummy. So I started writing this with the knowledge of playing this game weekly, but after some research, I found that riichi mahjong did not appear in history until early 1900s and that's well after the Edo Era. Oops.

Well it was easier to write about than hanafuda, which would've been more accurate. That card game has so many flavors and designs, I got lost! So mahjong it is.

I wonder what mononoke has invaded this mahjong parlor!


	18. Konpeito

The medicine seller had expected a small yokai or a cat to be the source of the kitchen catastrophe. Perhaps it could've even been a small neighboring child breaking into the parlor at night. Yet the tendril squeezing into the room from between the floorboards was a pretty good indication none of the above were the source.

Kayo yelped as the door to the room slid open and a nest of black filled the entire doorway. Thick tendrils lashed out, grasping the nearby empty tables and drawing them into the darkness.

The medicine seller quickly reacted, throwing ofuda spell papers from his sleeves as a defense barrier. The tendrils struck the ofuda repeatedly, attempting to break through. The tendril then broke apart, fraying like the end of a rope. The small frays wrapped around the individual ofuda, wedging them free from the barrier and dragging the papers into the darkness.

"D-did that thing eat the ofuda?!" Kayo yelped.

"This is unexpected." His ofuda weren't infallible. They had their limits, as most things did, but he didn't expect the mononoke would find a way to take advantage of that limit. Most mononoke attempted to burst through, and this one simply pulled the bricks out of the wall.

The small jingle of a bell indicated the taima sword had responded to his call. The sheathed blade burst through the darkness and into the room, but the mononoke had responded in kind, wrapping a large tendril around the taima sword.

Wedging free of Kayo's grasp, the medicine seller leapt forward, reaching out to grasp the sword before it was pulled into the darkness. The taima sword was the only way to relieve the mononoke of its suffering, and without the blade, the suffering would be endless.

As he grasped the sword, tendrils reached out and wrapped themselves around his arms and body. They felt soft to the touch but their grip was suffocating, trying to wring the life from his body. He had to think quickly, preferring not to enter the form of a mononoke until he knew the shape, truth, and reason.

He turned back towards the mahjong tables. With a flick of his wrist, he drew the sweets tray towards him and used it to slice the tendrils from their base. As the tray struck, he quickly shut the door, plastering it with ofuda to seal it shut.

The detached tendrils wriggled for a moment before falling limp and scattering about. He knelt down, picking up the pieces of the tendrils on the tatami mat. "Hair?"

"What do you mean 'hair'?!" Junsuke yelped. "What _was_ that thing?!"

"A mononoke," the medicine seller replied calmly, shaking the last of the hair off his kimono.

"Y-you said that before," Hiroshi stammered. "W-what is that?"

"A creature borne of strong human emotions," Kayo replied for him, her voice shaky from watching the hair mononoke nearly claim the medicine seller in its grasp. "Negative ones that cause regret. Did someone die here?"

"D-die?!" Hiroshi stammered. "Why would you even go right to that?"

"Death is often part of a mononoke's truth," the medicine seller explained, "the means of how it was born. We must discover the truth, the shape, and the reason for its regret. Only then can I slay it relieve it of its pain."

"That's insane!" Tama shouted.

"A giant hair mononoke just invaded the room and _what he said _is what's insane?!" Kayo fussed.

"It's all insane!" Tama insisted.

"It might be best to calm down a bit, Miss Tama," Junsuke attempted to quiet her.

"I am calm!" Tama screeched.

The medicine seller propped the sword between the palms of his hands. "The strange activities began a week ago, according to Miss Tsuma. Did something occur then?"

"Nothing with hair," Hiroshi quickly replied.

"Hair aside," the medicine seller clarified.

"Perhaps it was something at the tea house," Junsuke suggested. "Didn't you say there was an incident last week?"

"Nothing to create some monster!" Tama insisted loudly. "What about your _inn_?"

"Are you insinuating something, Miss Tama?" Junsuke scowled.

"Nothing more than you!" Tama hissed back.

"I doubt that has anything to do with it," Hiroshi attempted to quiet the argument.

"Like you weren't involved!" Tama shouted. She hissed, curling up in terror as the door to the parlor began to rattle again.

The medicine seller glanced around the players gathered where the table once was. "Those seals will not hold forever."

"Well then make more!" Tama hissed.

The medicine seller stared at her flatly.

"Do you want to be stuck here forever?!" Junsuke panicked. "We could've caused this! That girl _died_!" He clamped a hand over his mouth. He wasn't planning on saying that much.

"Oh~?" The medicine seller questioned.

"Shut your mouth, Mr. Junsuke!" Tama hissed.

Several strands of hair began to wedge between the tatami mats, reaching up for anything it could snag in its grasp. Tama shrieked, attempting to smother it with a pillow. The hair thrashed outwards, emerging from beneath the pillow prison and attempting to ensnare Tama's arms.

As she tumbled backwards away from it, the medicine seller used the taima sword to repel the advances. Perhaps it wanted revenge or to ensnare someone specific. While it had grasped him earlier, he'd drawn close to it to retrieve the taima sword. It seemed to harbor nor ill will towards him, only filled with desire for revenge against someone else in the room.

Each time the hair had invaded the room, the mononoke had specifically avoided Kayo despite her sitting right next to the tatami. It had targets, but killing them likely wouldn't satiate the need for revenge. It rarely did.

He watched the tendrils for a moment before forcing them back and sealing the gap with an ofuda. "This mononoke," he observed, standing upright as he watched the seal activate then fall quiet, "is after one or more of you." He indicated the trio by pointing the taima sword at them.

"It's that girl, isn't it?!" Junsuke panicked. "Her perfect hair is haunting us!"

The taima sword hadn't reacted just yet. "Tell me more."

"Don't say anything!" Tama hissed.

"And get eaten by hair?!" Junsuke hissed. "It has to be Yoshino! She's doing this!"

"_Yoshino_?" the medicine seller repeated. He knew the meaning of the name. It was a popular name for 'maids' and 'waitresses', prostitutes that worked at teahouses and inns along major travel and trade routes. While prostitution was an illegal practice under era law, it was largely ignored.

"She was a maid at my inn," Junsuke explained. "Sometimes a waitress at Ms. Tama's tea house. Always favored by travelers and traders for her beautiful hair and body. Everyone demanded her company. Even we did."

"Mr. Junsuke!" Tama hissed.

"Even you!" Junsuke hissed back. "We took her here for a game when a player became rough with her, demanding her attention. She refused to give it, stumbled backwards, and died when she hit her head on the corner of a table."

Kayo wrinkled her face. "What a terrible way to die."

"She was well cared for!" Junsuke insisted. "We treated her well, gave her everything she ever wanted.

"Right." Kayo had heard that story before, the false story of how the bakeneko came to be. She peered up at the taima sword in the medicine seller's hand. It hadn't reacted to the story in the least. It remained silent, listening to the tales.

"Go kill that thing now!" Tama insisted.

"The truth, form, and reason all still remain hidden," the medicine seller remained stationary. "There is more to this story."

"Then it's not Yoshino?" Junsuke questioned, panic lacing his voice.

"We do not know the full story," the medicine seller insisted.

"That _is _Yoshino's full story," Hiroshi finally spoke. "There's nothing more to the tale."

The medicine seller glanced towards the back of the room, noticing some stray hairs seeping through the tatami mats. They were rather far away, searching for something.

Kayo wrinkled her face some more. "Someone else? Did anyone else die?"

"No one else died that day," Hiroshi shook his head.

"Any other days?" Kayo pressed on. "Mononoke don't manifest from someone's happy life and an accidental death. Or was Miss Yoshino really not treated well."

"No no, Yoshino was our best girl!" Junsuke insisted. "Treating her badly would be a discredit to her skill. She knew exactly where to touch-"

"Don't finish that," Kayo interrupted.

The medicine seller watched the hairs travel a bit, snagging the konpeito candy that had been scattered when he flipped the snack tray. The tendrils wrapped around them, dragging the star candy down between the cracks on the floor.

"What are you watching?!" Tama demanded, noticing the medicine seller's gaze had been diverted. Untangling herself from the kimono layers, she stood up and shrieked, seeing the hairs had invaded the room once again. "It's back! Kill it, you weird medicine seller!"

"Just watch," the medicine seller deflected the demands.

The tendrils reached out once again, seeking out the star candy and dragging the sweet victims back down between the floorboards.

"I-is it eating candy?!" Kayo stared in shock.

"It is," the medicine seller confirmed.

"W-why?!" Junsuke stammered. "I thought it wanted revenge!"

"A mononoke always has a reason for its actions that may not be understandable to humans," the medicine seller explained. "It may seek revenge, yet it may also seek other goals. To protect family, to return home, to reveal a hidden truth, and perhaps in this case, consume food."

Kayo stared, unsure what to make of the mononoke's actions. She was reminded somewhat of the candles who simply wanted to go home. This one wanted to consume candy. "Did Miss Yoshino like konpeito?"

"She never touched it," Hiroshi shook his head.

The medicine seller watched the tendrils disappear as soon as the konpeito was completely consumed. "I believe the mononoke's form is a futakuchi-onna."

The taima sword chattered in confirmation.

**...**

**Author's musings**

Mononoke are weird. And this one wants candy! Surely a mononoke made of hair is a strange one, right?

There sure are a lot of accusations flying about. During the Edo Era, prostitution was technically illegal but it happened all the time. Oftentimes it happened under the guise of teahouses and inns much like it's happening here. It was easier to tell which one was a prostitute by her name. Women's names during the era were two syllables but prostitutes tended to have multi-syllabic names like Yoshino.

There were of course legitimate inns and teahouses, but there are also these sorts.

I wonder what the real story is behind the inn, the teahouse, and the parlor if Yoshino's story isn't the cause of the mononoke.


	19. Strands of Hair

Kayo stared at the location where the konpeito was once scattered. The place was practically licked clean. "W-what's a futakuchi-onna?"

"A woman who has a second mouth hidden beneath her hair," the medicine seller explained. "The second mouth consumes whatever it can reach, the hair reaching out to feast, while the woman rarely is seen eating."

"That explains the kitchen," Kayo reasoned. "All the missing food Ms. Tsuma said had gone missing. But does that mean the mononoke's been hiding in the kitchen?"

"It's unclear as the truth or the reason of the futakuchi-onna currently remains hidden," the medicine seller filled in the remaining thoughts. "The story thus far hasn't revealed the true nature of the mononoke and how it came to be just yet. There is more left unspoken. Perhaps you would wish to speak, Miss Tama."

"There's nothing more about Yoshino!" Tama insisted.

"Were there others?" the medicine seller pressed.

"No!" Tama replied quickly, glaring at him intently.

She was definitely hiding something, the medicine seller had reasoned, but she was also clamming up much as Lady Tori had done with the inugami incident. However, unlike before, the others seemed more willing to talk and discuss the situation. Perhaps Yoshino's death truly was an accident, but it was a piece of the greater picture at play here.

The three locations - the inn, the tea house, and the mahjong parlor - were all interconnected in the creation of the mononoke but the truth still hadn't been revealed. The two men had begun to clam up, silenced by Tama's sharp glares as they stared at the mahjong tiles littering the floor. Perhaps they were content on being consumed for something that _did_ happen, but a mononoke's reason wasn't always quelled by consuming the offenders.

Tucking his feet beneath him, the medicine seller sat back down with the taima sword tucked into his obi and his hands resting politely on his lap. Nervously, Kayo settled back down next to him. The silence was unnerving. She shifted on her knees, trying to be patient. Opening her mouth to say something, she stopped when she felt the medicine seller's hand on her knee. She closed her mouth, returning to silence, patiently and nervously waiting.

The floorboards creaked again, the hair invading to seek out more food. The strands of hair picked apart some mochi bit by bit, drawing the pieces back down into the floor before disappearing again.

Kayo could see how much the other three were sweating. She was certain it wasn't just the heat. It was terror. They were watching the hair reach through the floorboards and seek out food. The mononoke wasn't being aggressive at the moment, but there was no telling when it would attempt to attack again. They knew something, yet the medicine seller wasn't interrogating them. He seemed to be waiting until one of them finally spoke.

But he was definitely better at waiting than she was. Kayo shifted a bit uncomfortably, watching the gathered people as well as listen to the creaks in the floorboards. She tried to not be afraid but she felt like her skin was crawling.

"There _were _others!" Junsuke blurted out.

Kayo fell backwards in surprise as the innkeep broke the silence.

"Mr. Junsuke!" Tama hissed.

"There were many more!" Junsuke continued, the pressure of the situation getting to him. "Dozens upon dozens! They were just girls sold to us to pay for their family's debt. We tried to keep them happy, but it's so hard when their parents did that to them."

Kayo gasped, clasping a hand over her heart. "How awful."

"Not all of them were prostitutes, only some of them were!" Junsuke insisted. "But not all of them lived long.." He pursed his lips, clearly concerned over their wellbeing.

The medicine seller listened to him speak wordlessly, his hands still resting on his lap as he watched the movement of the mononoke hair peek in and out of the floorboards.

"There's more to this, isn't there?" Kayo pressed on first, scooting just a little closer to the medicine seller as the creaking of the floorboards crept closer.

"I…." Junsuke hesitated.

"It was Miss Tama's idea!" Hiroshi broke his silence.

"What?!" Tama hissed.

"You kept those girls locked up!" Hiroshi accused her. "They were slaves to your partron's desires! Even Yoshino! If you had treated them better instead of imprisoning them in your basement, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"Like you aren't guilty too!" Tama hissed. "When the authorities came sniffing around, you hid them here, too!"

The floorboards cracked, the hair tendrils bursting back into the room. The mononoke attacked with much more than just a few hairs seeking food. It was a lock of hair the width of a grown man. The tendril lashed forward, quickly ensnaring Tama in its grasp. It grasped the woman so tightly it knocked the breath from her lungs before dragging her down into the darkness below before she had a chance to scream.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Junsuke cried, rolling into a ball and cowering. "I wanted to take care of them but I'm just as guilty! I fed them and ensured they had space to breathe and employed them properly but there were just so many! Why did we take so many of them in? We caused this!"

The medicine seller jerked a hand, covering the gap in the floor with a net of ofuda papers to block the return. "What happened to the girls?"

"Ms Tsuma found us out!" Junsuke replied quickly.

"There's no way Tsuma is somehow linked to this!" Hiroshi insisted.

"How could she not be?!" Junsuke shouted into the tatami. "We don't know how she survived!"

Kayo gasped in horror. "Was she..."

"No, definitely not a prostitute! She's my _wife_," Hiroshi insisted. "She…"

"It was Miss Tama's idea," Junsuke uncurled himself, tears streaming down his face. "She was worried that we'd be discovered so she…. The girls didn't die of disease or anything else. Miss Tama slaughtered them and Ms. Tsuma saw it."

Kayo buried her face in the medicine seller's shoulder. She couldn't handle this truth.

"So Miss Tama had Ms. Tsuma handled," Junsuke continued. "Mr. Hiroshi distracted Ms. Tsuma in the kitchen and Miss Tama struck her in the back of the head with an axe."

The taima sword chattered in confirmation.

"The mononoke's truth, the means it was created," the medicine seller confirmed.

"The pain she must've felt," Hiroshi knit his brow, "from seeing what we did and then we tried to kill her. Why did I ever get myself entangled in this? I've lost the love of my life. It's my fault. Just consume me!"

No tendrils reached through the ground but a side door that hadn't been barricaded jimmied open. Tsuma stood at the doorway with an empty silver tray, her hair moving as if it were tentacles. "Why does everyone look so sad?"

Her hair folded up into her normal updo as the bell charm that once hung in the doorway fell to the ground. "That's where that went. It must've been tangled in my hair."

"My dear Tsuma." Hiroshi stood up. He padded over to her, drawing her into a deep hug. "This is all my fault."

"What do you mean, my dear?" she peered up at him. "Are we losing the parlor?"

"I may have lost you," he replied simply.

"But I'm right here," Tsuma insisted.

Kayo unburied her face from the medicine seller's kimono. "Does she not-"

The medicine seller placed a finger on Kayo's lips to quiet her. He could tell that Tsuma didn't realize she was a mononoke, at least partially so. She had likely died during the incident, returning as a mononoke unable to cope with what she had seen.

Hiroshi drew Tsuma closer, wrapping his arms around her. "Because of what we did, because of those girls…. We'll never be able to play mahjong together again."

"Girls….?" Tsuma questioned, dropping the tray. She wrinkled her brow in thought before the realization struck her. "That…. That wasn't a nightmare?"

"It wasn't," Hiroshi confirmed.

"All that blood, those cries and screams….." Tsuma buried her face in his kimono. "I hear them every night. I try to reach out to them, but I can't save them. I wanted to save them all! Why did they have to die? Why didn't you stop them?!"

"You've married a fool," Hiroshi replied.

"Every night, I live through that nightmare, the regret that I couldn't protect them," Tsuma sobbed. "I heard them before, all those girls trapped downstairs. I brought them food when you weren't looking. I never asked, but I didn't want them to suffer. Then all that blood, the stench of death. I was so sad for all of them."

The taima sword chattered in confirmation for the mononoke's reason. "Relea-" The medicine seller shoved it further into his obi.

"It's my fault you're suffering from such regret," Hiroshi could feel himself shaking. "It's my fault you've become a mononoke. Mr. Medicine Seller, can you end her endless suffering?"

"I can," he confirmed. "Ms. Tsuma, please follow me into the hallway."

She pried herself from her husband's grasp, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek before following the medicine seller outside and sliding the door shut behind her. "Why did he have to do that? Why didn't he stop them?"

"Humans are capable of terrible things," the medicine seller replied, pulling the taima sword from its sheath. His white hair billowed out behind him as the other self took over. He made no aggressive move towards Tsuma, nor did she lash out towards him.

"Was I wrong in trying to save them?" she questioned. She stared at him as he didn't reply. She stared at the floor for a moment, her heart in a knot. Everything she'd seen, everything she'd felt, it was all welling up inside of her.

"You aren't here to judge the living, are you?" She pursed her lips, a tear rolling down her cheek. Her heart ached, screaming out in pain and all she wanted to do was quiet it. She couldn't understand why Hiroshi and the others would do this. She tried to help the girls, but the guilt of being unable to do so ate her alive. "Please, relieve this suffering. I want to believe I did the right thing."

He turned the taima sword to her. She didn't fight him at all. She just wanted peace. She wanted the pain in her heart to end.

…

Kayo couldn't be happier to leave that skeevy mahjong parlor behind them. She gripped her round uchiwa fan in her hand, a troubled look on her face.

"Miss Kayo," the medicine seller broke the silence as they neared the city's edge.

She stopped, turning to look at him for a moment. "Yes?"

He could see she was clearly troubled, and that actually concerned him. He wasn't quite accustomed to caring what others felt around him. He simply uncovered a wrongdoing and righted it by relieving the mononoke from its pain. That was simply how it was until Kayo began to travel with him. He listened to the tales of atrocities, barely fazed by them at all as he focused on the truths of the situation. Yet Kayo was human. She was affected by this.

"Are you certain you wish to continue traveling with me?"

She knit her brow, worried where he was going with this.

"There are tales ahead of us, ones that may be worse than what we've heard here," he continued. "Can you handle this way of life?"

She stared at the uchiwa for a moment. She wasn't certain she _could_ quite handle how cruel humans could be, certainly not with the calm way he usually did. This incident shook her much like the bakeneko incident struck her to the core, and it wasn't fear of the mononoke. It was the horror of what had caused it.

She rubbed at her face with one hand. "Is she still suffering?"

"She is not."

"Good," she stated simply.

He paused for a moment, studying her expression. She seemed content with the answer, and that was enough to confirm she wished to continue on the path ahead of them. It wouldn't be easy, but he never expected humans to fully handle all the truths he heard. Yet Kayo was stronger than most he'd encountered. She jumped at every shadow that moved, but she could handle some pretty serious situations when the situation called for it. "Then let us press on. There are still mononoke left in the world."

"Then let's find a way to help them all," Kayo nodded.

Yes, she certainly would be fine. A smile tugged at the edges of his lips as he turned to travel down their path.

**...**

**Author's notes**

About the cast's names:

Tsuma – possibly means wife

Tama – Jewel. Ironic with her rough personality

Yoshino – a popular prostitute's name with no particular meaning

Junsuke and Hiroshi are popular men's names in the Edo era and are more modern than most of the ones I use in this story. I tend to like Sengoku era names. Shhh.


	20. Mountain onsen

Kayo was thankful for the change of scenery. Cities had been littered with terrible acts of human tyranny, but the stretches of forest were a peaceful contrast. She was beginning to understand why the medicine seller acted so indifferent towards people. Hearing all the atrocities that people could commit was hard, and Kayo was still having trouble separating herself from it. Perhaps he had become jaded after listening to their stories.

Yet he wasn't completely emotionless. He had been worried about her, asking if she wanted to continue on. Kayo had considered for a moment, what if she _hadn't_ continued on with him. The idea flew through her mind as she'd stared at the fan in her hand. What _would_ she do? She never really found her place in the world, but she felt like she was actually getting better at this medicine peddling business. Learning some wards and yokai certainly helped in the secondary job.

She stared at his back as they scaled the mountain in the forest path. It didn't take long for her to reason her place was here, helping relieve mononoke of their suffering and trying to make a good sale to eat more bean sprouts and ramen once in awhile.

The cooler mountain air gave way to an intriguing scent of salt and warmth. "Is that…"

"An onsen," the medicine seller indicated the building ahead of them nestled in the forest. "This mountain is known for its secluded hot springs. We are here for business."

Kayo groaned. "I really wanted to soak my legs." She wasn't quite used to hiking up mountains. The summer heat wasn't exactly helping either.

A slight smirk tugged at the edges of his lips. There was business to attend first and foremost. Onsen were often in the business of expensive teas, creams, and salves. They could potentially earn a large amount of money with this visit. A dip into the hot springs after the sale wasn't entirely out of the question.

But something else had enticed him. There was a supernatural scent in the air. The mountain did have rumors of yokai roaming about. Perhaps there was something non-human that wished to bathe in the onsen as well.

The medicine seller offered a deep, polite bow at the side door of the onsen.

"A medicine seller! How delightful," the lady at the door beckoned him and Kayo in. "We've been a little low on supplies. I'm sure Lady Ama will be happy to see you both."

The pair followed the lady into the back passage ways of the onsen in the house shoes offered to them. Kayo longed to simply go dip in the springs, but the mention that the springs were low on supplies had enticed her for the moment. A large purchase would do both of them good for their current and future travels. The mahjong parlor had paid them hush money to never speak of the trafficking ring, but those funds were now stretching thin.

"Lady Ama, I've brought a pair of medicine sellers," the lady introduced them.

Within the back room was a woman in a decorative blue kimono with her sleeves pulled back as she wrote documents detailing purchases of each visitor. She peered up, inviting the medicine seller and Kayo in. "What perfect timing. Come. What salves do you have?"

The pair offered a polite bow. The medicine seller placed the chest on the floor next to the table as he curled his legs underneath him. "Many." Hooking a finger around the handle of the middle drawer, he pulled out a few containers to set them on the table. He was familiar with what an onsen typically liked. "These are popular among onsens."

"We like to pride ourselves as a unique experience," Ama informed him.

"I see." He'd barely removed the lid of the first one, setting it back on the table. "Perhaps something custom made."

"You can do that?" Ama questioned, strangely surprised.

The medicine seller grinned just slightly. "Perhaps you simply have not encountered a _good_ medicine seller. Miss Kayo, would you pull an herb or flower you would consider a unique scent?"

Kayo hadn't expected him to request her opinion. She didn't know much about what an onsen really liked, but Ama did say unique. She'd spent a great deal of time as a servant of an upper class house then some time as an inn maiden for that candle inn. She knew what sort of things fancy ladies liked.

She pulled out one of the drawers, handing him a wrap of dried flowers. "Peony, the sweet scent of summer."

Taking the cloth, he unfolded it and presented the contents for Ama to sniff.

Ama breathed deeply. "Peonies have such a lovely scent. I never once thought of using them in salves! Definitely would like some peony salve. Perhaps another scent or two."

Kayo had to think for a moment as she stared at the drawer. Peony was an easy choice. It was so fragrant and pleasant. She thought of a few others like cherry blossoms or wisteria. Even orange seemed like a good scent. But perhaps she could use some of the knowledge she learned on their travels to really drive in the sale.

Reaching into the drawer, she pulled out another fragrant wrap. "Ginger," she offered it to the medicine seller. "It can help reduce swelling and it has a good scent."

Ama sniffed the ginger root, considering Kayo's words. "Practical and a pleasant scent. This could certainly make us unique. Please make a large batch of both! We'll need to discuss teas as well."

…

He'd slid the paper door facing the forest open as he worked, the cicadas and crickets singing in their nightly choral war. The moon was nearly full, hanging low between the trees and partially obscured with the steam of the nearby hot springs. The lady of the springs had been rather generous with the room, offering it to both of them for their work overnight. He couldn't complain. The lady had requested a rather large order that would take time but also yield a high payment.

He refused the offer to bathe in the hot springs, preferring to tend to his work and leaving Kayo to relieve her tired legs within the warm waters. He could hear a bird yokai, a yosuzume, calling out in the night as it warned travelers that its partner wolf yokai may be roaming about. As he was inside and not traveling, the warning meant little. The yokai's song just sounded like another bird in the nightly chorus.

Kayo slid the door open, rubbing a towel over her long hair as she entered in white onsen yukata. "Are you sure you don't want to take a bath? I can handle the salves."

"I'm fine," he refused the offer.

"You know, I really can make the salves now!" Kayo puffed up.

He simply pulled the second bowl from the drawer and set it beside him. It was hardly that he didn't trust her to create the salves. He knew well she was capable of mixing after the lessons he'd taught her.

She puffed her lips out, staring at the bowl. Well that answered that. He just didn't want to take a dip in the hot springs for some reason. Probably had something to do with that mysteriousness about him. Perhaps he hid something underneath the kimono that would mark him as not being completely human, whatever he was. She really had no idea.

She twisted her hair back, wrapping it into a bun and securing it with a hair stick. "I heard some strange rumors in the springs," she mentioned as she settled down to work with the second bowl.

Well that caught his attention. "Oh~?"

If nothing else, she knew he loved to gossip as much as she did. "Apparently some of the guests turned gluttonous earlier today."

"Onsen can make guests relax a bit too much," the medicine seller mused.

"Oh no, _more _than that," Kayo clarified. "Apparently they started eating everything in sight, even straight tea leaves and salves!"

"That is rather silly," he commented.

"It is!" Kayo agreed. "The girls who ate the salves didn't remember doing it. The weirdest craving I've ever heard of. I hope it's not something in the water."

He turned towards the door, hearing a sudden commotion brewing over the nightly chorus. "What a curious noise." Setting the bowl down on the tatami, he stood up, padding over to the door and sliding it open. In the hallway were two guests, a man and a woman, quarreling.

"This is my rice ball! You can't have it!" the man hissed.

"You're so mean, Toshi!" the woman screeched back at him. "Share the rice ball with me!"

The medicine seller hardly concerned himself with the affairs of others, but the so-called rice ball at the center of the quarrel wasn't a rice ball at all. As the man reeled back in anger, the medicine seller grasped his arm. He leaned over a bit, speaking quietly into the man's ear. "The rice ball is a rock."

The pair snapped to attention suddenly with bewildered expressions plastered on their faces.

"What… what are we doing out here?" the man asked. "We didn't bother you, did we?"

The medicine seller shook his head, taking the rock from the man's hand.

"It's late," the woman shrugged. "We should get to bed. Sorry about this!"

Kayo stared as the pair scampered off. "Weird."

"Indeed," the medicine seller agreed, staring at the rock for a moment. He turned sharply, finding Ama standing behind him with a man at her side.

"What in the world?" Ama questioned.

"I believe you may have," the medicine seller replied, glancing over his shoulder at the pair scampering off to their room, "a mononoke."

**...**

**Author's musings**

And here Kayo thought that a hot springs would just be a nice change of pace. But is it ever just a simple sale, is it? Definitely not when you're in a sacred yokai forest hot spring. I wonder what kind of mononoke causes people to eat rocks. Must be a strange one indeed.


	21. Overwhelming hunger

"A mononoke?" Ama questioned. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"A supernatural being borne of strong negative human emotions," the medicine seller replied simply.

Ama frowned, pulling the medicine seller and the man with her into the room and shutting the door. The guests outside didn't need to hear their conversation. "We had the onsen blessed by a priest a week ago."

"Oh~?" the medicine seller questioned. "Was there trouble?"

"The rumors of yokai in the nearby forest spooked some guests," the man replied. "Simply precautionary measures."

"I see," the medicine seller noted.

"Not to be rude, but who are you exactly?" Kayo questioned from behind the medicine seller.

"Ah, pardon my rudeness. I am Tsurumatsu, Ama's husband," he introduced himself with a polite bow. "We run this inn together."

Kayo glanced between the two. Ama was excessively beautiful. Perfect hair, perfect makeup, ideal body shape. Compared to her, Tsurumatsu looked like a doorstop. "I'm Kayo, and this is-"

"A priest's blessing will not keep a mononoke out," the medicine seller changed the subject back to the mononoke at hand.

"Stop interrupting polite introductions!" Kayo fussed.

"Yes, yes," he grinned slightly, rather amused at her priorities.

Ama looked terribly concerned, despite their antics. "What do you mean that won't work?"

"Something has created this mononoke," the medicine seller replied. "Something here."

"I don't like what you're implying," Tsurumatsu frowned.

"I am not here to judge," the medicine seller stated simply.

"That's just how mononoke are created," Kayo confirmed. She peered at the door, hearing shuffling down the hallway. She knit her brow in concern. It could just be someone shuffling by or it could be the mononoke. He hadn't set up any seals yet, but the mononoke hadn't done anything to truly attack yet. It simply caused squabbles over food or what it thought was food.

But mononoke didn't always make sense. The medicine seller had been saying that since the very first time they'd met, but recently it was sinking into her mind more and more. The futakuchi-onna made that definitely clear. It had mostly sought food from within the floorboards, one that Tsuma seemed to enjoy.

Kayo stared at the colorful patterns on the medicine seller's kimono for a moment. This mononoke was borne of negative human emotions. It could be like the cruelty towards those girls that ultimately created the last mononoke, or it could be worse. It was hard to fathom what humans _hadn't_ done at this point, but the medicine seller had likely heard them all.

She had to focus on what the medicine seller had told her in the inn. This line of work relieved the soul from suffering. It ended the mononoke's pain. She still couldn't see the result, but she was glad to know that all they eventually were free, even Lady Tamaki and all those who had become candles.

That futakuchi-onna had just gotten to her, reminding her of the cruelty towards Lady Tamaki.

But as he'd say, people were capable of terrible cruelty but they also could be capable of great good. She could help those who were wronged and try to be that human who could do good.

"Has anything unusual happened here?" the medicine seller questioned. "Perhaps an accident?"

Tsurumatsu huffed, but Ama answered first. "Nothing at all. There were some reports of unusual birds in the trees nearby but nothing else. Unless you mean this could happen if someone scraped a knee."

"Quarrels?" the medicine seller pressed.

"Well, there was this married couple a few months ago that had a squabble," Ama replied, "but they apologized after a good soak cleared their heads."

"Missing food?" the medicine seller questioned.

Ama paused, looking off to the side in thought for a moment. "No missing food."

The medicine seller waited patiently, noticing Ama was considering something.

The onsen lady paused for a moment before speaking. "We purchased a new sake from the local shrine a week ago. When there were rumors of people eating strange things, we had the priest come and bless the place."

There it was. The true reasoning for the priest's visit. While protection charms weren't exactly uncommon, especially in remote areas, the insistence that it was preventative seemed out of place. Ama was at least seemed more willing to speak than her husband. Perhaps there was more she wasn't saying.

The medicine seller's attention turned to the closed door. Something on the other side clawed at the walls. The door suddenly yanked open, a visitor in a white yukata reached into the room with drool and soap bubbles rolling down her cheeks.

"Sake!" the girl shouted as she leapt forward with her hands fixed in a stiff, clawlike manner with the digits bent sharply.

The medicine seller held his hand out, the taima sword answering his silent call. The bell jingled as he swung his arm forward, meeting the girls clawed hand. "What has caused your anger?" he questioned the mononoke.

"A leek!" she exclaimed, reaching for the taima sword.

Yet the magic the sword possessed repelled her, causing to take several steps back.

"I must have it!" she repeated insistently.

Kayo stared. The girl was rather insistent on grabbing the taima sword and eating it. She couldn't imagine that the sword would be too happy with that sort of thing. Quickly she turned, shoving their medicinal work to the side and rummaging through the chest. Salt? Ginseng? Gunpowder? Definitely not that last one. Phosphorous? Sure it was the middle of the night, but that wouldn't help either.

Then she found something that might. "Here! Eat some orange peel!" She chucked the peel at the girl. The peel was bitter and sharp, hopefully something that would snap the girl free of whatever was going on. At the very least, it could help get the taste of soap bubbles out of her mouth.

The girl snatched up the orange peel, quickly gobbling it up.

Kayo gasped, shocked as the girl wasn't the least bit fazed.

With the taima sword still outstretched, the medicine seller turned to stare in Kayo's direction.

She stared back at him. "Did I do something wrong?"

He shook his head. "Move," he calmly replied. Drawing his free hand back towards him, he gathered ofuda papers and flung them at the medicine chest.

She dove out of the way, avoiding the papers. She wanted to get angry at him, but he'd warned her this time. It only took screeching at him a few times to get him to warn her. But his actions weren't the most surprising thing. Ama suddenly started drooling as well, reaching towards the medicine seller like one would reach for pork ramen.

"Come, Miss Kayo," the medicine seller instructed, gently waving his hand to push the girl in the doorway backwards into the hallway.

She didn't question the instruction, scrambling to her feet and stumbling behind him into the hallway. She pulled at the edges of her yukata, picking them up so she didn't trip. "Wh-what's going on?"

"This mononoke is capable of possession," the medicine seller explained. "I believe it is tanuki-tsuki, possession by tanuki." The taima sword chattered in confirmation.

"T-tanuki?!" Kayo yelped as another onsen visitor leapt out of one of the rooms and nearly snagged the back of her yukata. "They're not going to grow giant magical testicles, are they?!"

The medicine seller smirked, amused. "Tanuki-tsuki causes those possessed to eat, not grow extra appendages."

"Thank the kami, but I wish they wouldn't try to _eat me too!_" Kayo yelped as a hand grasped her from one of the doorways. A younger woman with a towel wrapped around her body grasped Kayo's arm with an iron grip.

The medicine seller skidded to a stop, turning and summoning ofuda to his hand. The tanuki had possessed nearly everyone in the entire onsen, now Kayo included as drool began to form at the edges of her lips. He was completely surrounded by possessed hot springs visitors, all hungry for anything they could grasp.

"_Why aren't you affected?!_" the mononoke howled through one of the visitor's mouths.

"What has angered you so?" he evaded the question.

"_What are you?_" the mononoke demanded through another visitor. "_Why are you unaffected?!_"

"I can help you be free from this suffering," he evaded the question again.

"_Never!_" the mononoke hissed through Kayo. She leapt forward, giving the medicine seller a shove. "_They'll just keep eating until they all die!_"

He didn't always care for humans. They could be such a fickle creatures capable of terrible atrocities. Yet Kayo suffering the same as the rest had hit a nerve with him. He grasped her wrist tightly. "I will relieve your suffering."

The mononoke's rage was strong, filled with anger or regret or something in between. It wouldn't be relieved of its suffering so easily, nor would it surrender. It had every intention to continue on its path of destruction for whatever wrong done to it.

"What is your truth and reason?" he demanded.

The tanuki writhed, attempting to wriggle free of his grip. "_What are you!?_" Finding it impossible to free itself, tanuki-Kayo rushed forward, pushing him through the open doorway and over the balcony railing. It would not be relieved of this misery. Not yet. It had something it needed to do. No strange medicine seller nor his taima blade would get in its way. Not when it was finally this close.

The medicine seller could see the balcony quickly leaving his reach as they barreled over the railing. No amount of magic that he possessed could make him fly, especially not with a possessed Kayo bearing down on him, hands and knees and all. Quickly tucking the taima sword into his sleeve, he summoned ofuda in between his hands, he created a net beneath them both as they careened into the darkness below.

**...**

**Author's musings**

In many legends, tanuki are known for their rather large, magical balls. Yup. Giant magical testicles and I mean _giant_. Some legends tell of them using their balls to fly. Some they bounce on them. Any shrine to tanuki, you're bound to see statues with some serious balls.

Thankfully tanuki-tsuki does not involve the possessed literally growing a pair. There are a number of forms of possession but perhaps the most hilarious is insatiable appetite where the possessed will literally eat anything within their reach. Here, that happens to be soap, a rock, and even the taima sword.


	22. Beside the river

She stirred, trying to figure out why there was dirt in her ears and a stick in her hair after taking a bath. Everything had been a blur. Something about tanuki and eating strange things and magical testicles. It felt like someone had been in her head.

The screams of the nightly chorus filled her ears, trying to awaken her. She opened one eye, finding that she was laying on top of the medicine seller outside near a rather large river. Gasping, she scrambled to her feet, which made her gasp even more. The medicine seller lay motionless on the shores, his ofuda scattered about on the ground flanked by broken branches and leaves. His kimono was torn and bloodied, his face and arms bruised and scratched.

"No no no no no!" she panicked, dropping to her knees. What had happened that they ended up outside in this predicament. She attempted to move his shoulders. "Wake up! Just wake up, please!"

He wasn't moving. She wasn't sure if he was even alive. Did supernatural beings even have heartbeats? Did they need to breathe? Her hand shook as she attempted to feel for a pulse in his neck. Fortunately whatever being he was, he still had a heartbeat.

She stood up, searching for anything that could help them. She could feel her breaths getting more and more shallow, aware of what panic was, but that really didn't help. This wasn't what she wanted to do at a hot spring. She wanted to soak her feet, make a big sale, and go to the next place. Instead she was standing here in a bathing yukata and sandals on the side of a river in the middle of the night with an unconscious whatever-he-was that likely needed medical attention.

She placed a hand on her head. What made matters even worse was the thoughts and feelings going through her mind. They definitely _weren't_ her own. Betrayal, anger, revenge. She could feel that pit in her heart like someone had stabbed her in the back, yet no one had.

She smacked herself on the forehead. She had to concentrate. She'd been with the medicine seller for some time, learning about remedies and medicines. They were in a forest where many herbs naturally grew, but she didn't want to leave him lying there helplessly. A forest creature or even a yokai could come along and try to eat him like a snack.

She paced for a moment before reaching down and scooping up water to splash her face. She did have a natural resource right here. She could use strips if yukata to bandage anything up and there were branches for splints if they were needed. "Good thinking, Kayo!"

She turned, gasping. For a moment, she was certain she saw a dark-skinned man with flowing white hair kneeling next to the medicine seller with a hand on his head. Yet as soon as she blinked, the person was gone. Had she just imagined it?

Whoever that was, it was enough to cause the medicine seller to stir. "Mr. Medicine Seller!" she practically slid across the dirt on her knees. "Thank the kami. I thought you weren't going to make it!"

He placed a hand on his head, feeling it pound and scream at him. He could barely make out the lights of the onsen up the cliffside. They had fallen quite a distance before impacting the ground and tumbling to the river. If it hadn't been for the ofuda and his other self protecting them both, they wouldn't have survived the fall.

He pushed himself up to a seated position, rubbing at his shoulders gingerly. "You are you again."

She sat back on her knees. "I feel like someone was in my head."

"The mononoke," he informed her. He left out the part that when possessed, she was the one who pushed them both over the balcony railing. She didn't need that weighing down her heart. It wasn't her fault.

Kayo placed a hand on her head again. "That explains the feelings that aren't mine. I feel… betrayed. My heart just hurts. Is this the mononoke's reason?" She looked at him for confirmation but noticed he was missing something. "Wait, where's the taima sword?"

He pulled it from his sleeve. The bell had become knotted and the fuzzy hair matted, but the sword was unscathed. It also hadn't chattered a confirmation that the reason was fully revealed. "Perhaps a piece of the reason. We do not yet know the full story."

He stared up at the light of the onsen above them high up on the cliffside. Given the full possession of all the guests at the onsen, he wouldn't be able to glean any information from them at the moment.

"You think it has to do with the sake?" Kayo wondered.

"The trigger, perhaps," he reasoned. "The mononoke's truth occurred recently, within a week."

She felt at odds, finding herself outside a mononoke's haunt without information to put it to rest, but it wasn't the first time. The hinnagami had locked them out of the tea house, but they had still been close to resources and a medicine chest full of supernatural oddities to help them out. Right now, they were cast out of the onsen and into a river.

He sat up, leaning over and digging something out of the dirt.

Kayo watched him brush the dirt off, quickly realizing what he'd found. "A hair ornament! I wear those all the time!" She felt her hair, expecting to have lost an ornament but recalling she'd let her hair down for the dip in the springs. "It's not mine."

"It is not," he agreed. Curling his legs around, he pushed himself to his feet as he felt the effects of the fall pull at his body. Glancing around, he found no paths nearby. It didn't seem to be a common area for anyone to travel. The river was harsh with eddies and rapids. The trees were dense and uninviting. This hair ornament wouldn't be here without a reason.

Something within the brush moved about. Kayo yelped, leaping onto him in surprise. "The mononoke's back!"

"Miss Kayo," he grimaced a bit.

She gasped, quickly jumping off and hiding behind him. "Sorry!" She cautiously peered around his arm, unable to make out what was making noise.

The medicine seller could easily see the culprit. It wasn't making many attempts to hide completely from sight. He could see the small snouts visible in the bushes. "Miss Kayo, it's a group of tanuki."

Kayo ducked behind him. "Noooo! I don't want to eat soap!"

"They're not possessed, Miss Kayo," he smirked a little bit before returning his attention to the brush. They were ordinary tanuki that hadn't shown any signs of aggression. Normally tanuki were pretty friendly, only resorting to tricks if their home was disrupted or they were bored. At the moment, the brush visitors seemed pretty docile. "Did we disturb your den?"

The small tanuki heads shook in response. One reached out, beckoning them to follow with the crook of its finger.

"They wish for us to follow them," he interpreted.

"W-what?!" Kayo yelped. "What if it's a trick?"

"I do not believe so," he shook his head. "They wish to show us something."

She gripped the back of his kimono.

"Miss Kayo, they will not force you to eat soap," he reassured her, wedging his kimono free of her grasp. "Come, we should follow them."

He watched them dart from the bushes, following the river downstream. They weren't the largest of tanuki, about the size of dogs wearing makeshift kimono and yukata that fluttered as they ran. He wasted no time following them, ignoring the sharp pains up his right leg.

The tanuki halted at a tree covered in ivy so thickly, it hung down like a curtain.

"It happened here," the tanuki samurai informed them.

"Th-they talk?" Kayo stammered in surprise.

"They do," the medicine seller seemed hardly fazed. He crouched down to level himself with the smaller guides. "Last week?"

"About seven nights ago," a tanuki in a green scarf nodded. "They fell much as you both did."

The medicine seller tapped his chin thoughtfully. "From the onsen up the hillside?"

"That's right, but they didn't survive," the samurai tanuki shook his head. "We think they were already dead when they fell."

Kayo watched the exchange, her hands gripping her yukata nervously. The medicine seller was so friendly to the small yokai, much friendlier than he often was with humans. Sometimes he was this friendly with her as well, though other times he was just a mysterious jerk.

She released the death grip on her yukata. There was nothing frightening about actual tanuki at all.

"It's not a pretty sight, but there's some of them left," the tanuki added. "The okuri-inu picked them clean."

"I did hear the yosuzume warning they were nearby," the medicine seller recalled the bird's shrill cry earlier that night. Okuri-inu were a wolf yokai so aggressive that even other yokai avoided them. The yosuzume bird cried out to warn those around it that the okuri-inu was nearby. The wolf yokai tended to consume travelers that stumbled or stopped to rest, but even a hunter like that wouldn't turn down a free meal of discarded humans.

"I'll give you something important from them," the tanuki informed them, ducking behind the ivy curtain. He emerged with odds and ends, mostly jewelry. He handed it to the medicine seller. "When we scavenged, we found these hair ornaments in her hand. They might mean something."

He stared at the jewelry in his hand. It was a handful of hair ornaments that had a very familiar look to them, and he knew exactly why. "The same jewelry that Miss Ama wore. This was hardly an accident. It was a murder."

**...**

**Author's musings**

I had long debated if Kayo would ever see the other self. He always tells her to shield her eyes or battles the mononoke in another room or concealed. Even in the Ayakashi or Mononoke, Kayo never actually sees the other self. Those possessed by mononoke have, but Kayo has not. But what if she even had the slightest of a glimpse of the other self? Under any other circumstance, perhaps it would've brought more questions, but this is a stressful situation. She's more concerned with him that what she thinks she saw.

I am also intrigued by the idea that the other self is the medicine seller, but at the same time he also seems separate. Particularly during the Umibozu story where he starts handing things off to his other half. They interact instead of just change places and it's done.

So the question perhaps is how the two interacted here? I do wonder. I'll leave that up to you to decide.


	23. Betrayal

Kayo stared at the jewelry in the medicine seller's hand. It was definitely the same that Ama had been wearing earlier. She seemed to be the reasonable of the two, but if traveling with the medicine seller had told her anything, looks could be very deceiving.

"We believed it was a murder too," the tanuki samurai confirmed. "But it wasn't just one. There were two."

"Two?" the medicine seller questioned. "Please tell me everything you know. It may tell us the truth of the mononoke."

"Mononoke?" the samurai tanuki looked concerned. "Oh dear. That must be what happened."

"My dear Ran-Ran," the lady tanuki sobbed.

"A week ago, those two humans fell from the building above," the tanuki in the green scarf explained. "A man and a woman. They fell together and they were definitely dead. The girl was green, and I'm pretty sure humans don't normally turn green."

"They do not," the medicine seller confirmed. "A poison of some kind, perhaps a topical cream that marred the skin."

"The man was stabbed in the back," the tanuki in the green scarf continued. "They landed here after a tumble. Ranmaru went to check it out first, to see if he could help, then he started acting strange, consuming everything in sight then leaping up to the onsen as he transformed into a human."

The taima sword chattered a confirmation.

"I see, that is the mononoke's truth," the medicine seller reasoned. "A double murder that possessed a tanuki who simply wished to help."

"That's a taima sword, isn't it?" the samurai tanuko observed.

"It is," the medicine seller confirmed.

"You can stop the mononoke with it, right? You can free Ran-Ran, right?" the lady tanuki begged him.

"He will not return to you," the medicine seller replied, "yet I intend on relieving him of the regret and anger he now possesses."

"I know he won't return now that I know he's become a mononoke," the lady tanuki sniffled. "But I don't want to see my dear Ran-Ran suffer!"

"But we still don't know the reason," Kayo frowned.

"We do not." The medicine seller stood back up to full height, peering through the trees at the onsen at the top of the hill. Learning the reason would require some cunning skills to get either the mononoke or Lady Ama to speak, but they had clues and information that may lead them to the true reason for the mononoke's anger. A double murder wasn't enough for the reason alone, but it was a powerful truth.

"Miss Kayo, it would be best if you wait here," the medicine seller suggested.

"But I want to help Ranmaru!" Kayo fussed.

"I do not wish for you to become possessed again," he replied.

She pursed her lips. She understood that. "I want to know why it left me with the feeling of betrayal."

The medicine seller peered at her for a moment. "I see." She had the advantage of being freed from tanuki-tsuki and was left with the mononoke's true feelings. Her words from their conversation before when they'd left the mahjong parlor still stuck to the back of his mind. In their travels together, she had developed a desire to help the mononoke as well.

He quickly grasped her wrist, wrapping an ofuda around it. "Then let us find the reason."

She stared at the ofuda as it activated then quickly went back to sleep, turning completely white.

He knelt down, handing the tanuki the hair ornaments for their collections, before standing back up again and moving to a less dense section of the forest. Drawing his hands in towards himself, he flung ofuda out wards between the trees. He threw more and more ofuda papers, joining them together in floating white stairs that lead up the balcony of the onsen above.

Ignoring the pain in his right ankle, he scaled the stairs with Kayo behind him. As their feet left the stairs, the ofuda folded up, returning to him. Kayo kept close behind him, careful not to fall. She could barely believe she was scaling a steep hillside on a bunch of paper stairs, but the medicine seller's abilities never ceased to impress him. And soon enough, they were both on the balcony.

He peered in through the open door. Many of the visitors had collapsed, likely from eating terrible things. The mononoke did proclaim it would cause its victims to eat until they died, but the people collapsed seemed to still be alive. He beckoned for Kayo to follow him, creeping over the fallen people.

Crying and whimpering carried out from the men's baths. He slipped into the door, their entrance concealed by water and steam. Kayo nearly covered her eyes to keep from looking, but the bath had been empty. She focused on the back of his kimono instead.

Peering out into the springs, he spotted a form of a woman with a tanuki tail peeking out from beneath her yukata. The mononoke had finally stopped hiding, now threatening both Ama and Tsurumatsu near the water's edge. Ama had blood pouring down her face from a gash across the forehead. Tsurumatsu held his shoulder, blood seeping through the yukata fabric.

The mononoke woman turned, hissing when she spotted the medicine seller standing at the doorway. "How are you not dead? I threw you off the balcony! What are you?!"

"I wonder," he replied.

The mononoke man leapt forward. The medicine seller responded, spanning a wall of ofuda to block the attacks. "Miss Ama, Mr. Tsurumatsu," he called out to them. "The bodies by the river. Who were they?"

Ama sucked in a terrified breath. "I thought you said there'd be no evidence!"

"There wasn't supposed to be! The wolves should've eaten them!" Tsurumatsu insisted.

"Who were they?" the medicine seller demanded sharply.

"My wife!" Tsurumatsu shouted. "Fuji, my wife! But we were poor, and I didn't want to live that way. Then I met Ama, the beautiful owner of this hot springs. There was no way my wife or her husband would divorce. It just wasn't possible!"

"We killed Fuji and my husband, Eijiro!" Ama confessed. "Eijiro was just a deadbeat. He did nothing but laze about and consume all our hard-earned money. But Tsurumatsu! He knew the meaning of hard work! What was I supposed to do?"

The taima hadn't yet responded in confirmation. "There's more to this," the medicine seller sharply urged her to continue.

"I loved him!" the mononoke hissed. "I loved him with all my heart! I was betrayed. How could he put poison in my hand cream? Hoooow?!"

The taima sword still hadn't chattered, so he continued to listen to her story.

"I gave him everything! That lecherous Tsurumatsu!" the mononoke continued. "He slept around. Wherever he went, he visited whores. He thought I didn't know! But I still loved him. He worked hard for our family. I stayed by his side. Then he betrayed me! _Betrayed!_"

Kayo could feel her heart bleed for the mononoke. Perhaps she was still clinging to the residual feeling in her heart left from the possession. Perhaps it was her own worry that she'd never be wed. She had wanted to find a husband before, but now that she was a traveling merchant trying to help those who had become mononoke, perhaps marriage wasn't the only thing in life.

"I thought he loved me for me, but he only wants what is beautiful!" the mononoke hissed. "Ama was so much more beautiful! If he had asked for a divorce, I would've said yes, but he didn't! He never asked. He poisoned me! They both did this together! I hate them both and I want them to suffer the same!"

The sword chattered in confirmation. "Release!" It was a reason of hatred and betrayal. She was killed by the one she had stayed with for so long to care for her family, abandoned for something more beautiful and richer. A tragedy, truly.

The medicine seller leapt forward, plunging both himself and the mononoke into the cover of steam and water. He closed his eyes as his other self took over, shifting the runes covering his darker arms down to the water as he walked upon its surface.

"Why did he do this?!" the mononoke hissed, lashing out with a flurry of leaves. "Why did he betray me?!

He was unfazed as the leaves pushed past him, fluttering his long hair. "Humans are capable of terrible things, but you do not need to suffer for their atrocities."

He stepped forward on the water, the steam extending the world around them so that nothing was near but the two of them, standing upon the water. They would be uninterrupted this way. The mononoke was consumed with rage. Reasoning with her would prove fruitless.

The springs now felt like the size of a lake covered in steam as he dashed forward, the runes keeping him above the surface as he moved.

The mononoke twisted in the air, attempting to avoid the attack. She was crying. The pain she felt was overwhelming as she stumbled backwards on the water's surface. "Why?" she sobbed. "Why do I need to feel like this?" She leapt backwards, avoiding his strikes as the tears clouded her eyes.

"You do not," he replied. "I shall relieve you of this pain."

She finally stopped moving, landing on the water's surface. She leaned over, practically prostrating herself in front of him. "Make it stop. Make it stop! I've hurt so many people because of this, and somehow I couldn't finish off the ones at fault! What is wrong with me?!"

"Do not worry so. I shall care for the fallen," he informed her as he drew the blade backwards, ending her suffering and freeing Fuji and Ranmaru from their pain. "They will live because you showed them mercy."

….

"We cannot thank you enough for freeing Ranmaru from that pain," the samurai commented. The tanuki had taken human form, soaking himself deep in the hot springs with the other disguised tanuki.

The medicine seller sat on the edge in a yukata, only his bruised right foot dipped in the springs. "It is what I do."

"I'm glad that you could help the fallen humans too," the man with the scarf added. "Even if they were so frightened, they immediately left. I doubt they'll ever return. Not even the human owners wanted to stay."

"The spring is ours now," the samurai smiled proudly. "I still can't believe how you worked out that deal with the human owners to benefit all of us."

The medicine seller grinned just slightly. It wasn't hard to get Ama and Tsurumatsu to agree to a simple deal. They had paid quite a bit of money to the medicine seller to ensure no one else died due to the tanuki-tsuki and to keep quiet about the double murder. They also quickly abandoned the hot springs knowing full well the rumors about the mass sickness would kill business. They had plans to start up a new business elsewhere, even with Ama now permanently scarred across her face.

The man with the scarf nodded. "We had always thought it strange that humans would build an onsen in a forest filled with yokai, even if the natural hot spring ran through the area."

"Humans have strange desires," the medicine seller commented.

"They sure do," the samurai agreed. "But now with the springs abandoned by humans, we can make it a place for all shapeshifters and even other yokai to stay. You and your human companion are always welcome to visit."

"Perhaps we shall," the medicine seller mused.

"You could even dip into the waters," the man with the scarf suggested. "It's just us. You'd have nothing to worry about."

"I am fine," the medicine seller protested, preferring to stay above the water's surface.

"Perhaps next time," the samurai laughed.

"For now, enjoy yourself!" the man with the scarf insisted. "My wife should be done with the repairs to your kimono soon, but you should at least heal that ankle a bit more, you know."

"I am a medicine seller," he pointed out. "Healing is what I do."

"You have an answer to everything, don't you!" the samurai laughed.

The medicine seller smirked, amused. "Uh oh. You caught me."

**...**

**Author's musings**

The medicine seller's creative uses of ofuda in the show always fascinated me, so for this tale, I really wanted to do something really out there. I think a stairway of ofuda up the cliffside qualifies, right?

There are multiple references to yokai in this chapter. I had fun researching all the details

Tanuki are associated with leaves! Mononoke-Fuji's attacks are referencing this

There is a legend that a kitsune lost its disguise when it dipped into hot water. The fan theory that the medicine seller is kitsune (at least in part) plays on his aversion to getting into the hotsprings

Some name meanings:

Ama, the headmistress, means indulgent

Fuji, the mononoke, means wisteria which is a symbol of eternal fidelity.


	24. The Farmer's Cats

The medicine seller tapped his chin thoughtfully. After the onsen incident, the supplies in his medicine chest had become rather barren in terms of poison remedies. While they could easily live off the funds paid to them by Ama and Tsurumatsu to keep quiet, that wouldn't last forever. They needed supplies.

He looked over the small farm shop in deep thought.

Kayo watched him intently as he scoured the selection of herbs. She'd learned quite a bit from him about herbs, about remedies for poisons and ingesting too much soap. But she hadn't quite understood how he chose the herbs. She actually hadn't seen him refill the medicine chest once before. She'd always assumed it was magical, and perhaps in part it was. But fresh herbs probably couldn't be produced properly by magic alone. She didn't really understand the magic quite yet. If it was called magic. Yeah it was all confusing.

"Each of these, please," the medicine seller handed the lady his selection of fresh herbs.

"Quite a collection," she mused, bundling them up for him as he handed her some coins. "Say, since you both are on the road, would you join us for dinner?"

"Really?" Kayo lit up for a moment before peering at the medicine seller. They probably needed to get on the road soon if they wanted to make it to the next town before nightfall, but he hadn't quite made an objection to the offer just yet. "Well if it's not trouble."

"Oh it's no trouble at all," the woman waved the concern. "With our children away selling our goods to neighboring towns, Terumune and I always appreciate the company. If you do not mind helping a bit around the farm, you are welcome to stay the night as well."

He had considered refusing the offer, but something supernatural scratched at the back of his mind. _Something _was here. "Then we are grateful," the medicine seller grinned just slightly as he bowed politely.

Setting their belongings in the farmhouse, the medicine seller shed his usual geta for a pair of straw sandals, tying his sleeves back as he stepped out into the farmland. He couldn't admit to farming much or doing this sort of labor, but it wasn't beneath him. He was a simple medicine seller, after all. A bit of labor for a place to stay with a mysterious air was hardly a bad exchange in his mind.

"Ah, you must be the travelers my dear Saki invited to stay," the farmer stood up from with a handful of small leeks, putting a hand on his lower back. "I am Terumune."

"Greetings," he offered a bow. He paused noticing a small calico cat dash by and run down the greenery. "A cat."

"I hope you don't mind cats," Terumune returned to pulling the leeks from the ground. "They are always most welcome here."

The medicine seller peered out into the field, spotting a few here and there dotting the landscape. They certainly were cute. "They are hardly a bother."

"Good to hear," the old farmer handed the medicine seller the basket he was filling. "My neighbor Miss Iwa seems to have a problem with them. She's been chasing them out of her farm lately."

"A strange thing to do," the medicine seller commented.

"It is," Terumune agreed. "They keep the rats and the yokai from eating the greens. She must have a terrible time trying to keep the greens healthy and going, especially with her husband always away." He stood up, placing more leeks into the basket before shifting to the next bed, checking to see if they were ready to be plucked.

The medicine seller couldn't think of many farm yokai that would be frightened away by cats, unless the cats had grown old enough they began to develop magic. Or perhaps that was simply a superstitious tale that farmers told themselves to reason keeping cats. "I see."

He turned his attention towards the fence as a lady in farming attire swatted a broom in the air. "Scat! Go back over there!"

Several cats scampered under the fence, scattering in Terumune's farmland. They scampered past, but one had stopped and cowered behind the medicine seller's foot. It was a small cat-like creature with a tiny bobtail that looked terribly frightened. He put the basket down, holding a hand out to invite the tiny ball of fur into his hands.

"Stop frightening the cats!" Terumune yelled across the fence.

"Keep the damn beasts out of my yard!" Iwa shouted back. "I bet everything that's happening is because of your damn cat collection! Everything's been happening lately because of them!" She huffed indignantly, nearly breaking the broomstick as she turned around, stomping off towards the farmhouse.

Terumune sighed, staring down at the small ball of fur. "Sorry little one. Seems Miss Iwa is being a pain again."

"I am curious why she blames them," the medicine seller scratched the ears of the tiny creature. He could easily tell it wasn't a cat at all but a tiny yokai. The harmless yokai was a sunekosuri, a cat-like creature whose only fault was trying to rub up against people's legs when they walked.

"Who knows," the old man shrugged. "Ever since she married into the family, things have been strange over there on that farm. I'm surprised it still stands some days."

The medicine seller cradled the small yokai in his hand, observing how it was shaking like a leaf. Something was frightening the small creature and he was quite certain it wasn't Iwa. Sunekosuri were rather friendly and liked people, even those that chased them off. It wasn't offended. It was terrified.

"Terumune! Mr. Medicine Seller!" Saki shouted across the farm. "Dinner's ready!"

The sun was beginning to set. Dinner came and went. The older couple was quite inviting and friendly, offering Kayo and the medicine seller more food than they expected. Garden greens, fresh noodles, even some rice. It had been awhile since he'd eaten with anyone but Kayo. The small sunekosuri sat next to his leg, refusing to leave his side.

As the old couple settled in for the night, the medicine seller slipped on his geta. He scooped up the sunekosuri before heading down the stairs and into the dark farmland.

"W-wait!" Kayo practically stumbled down the stairs in the dark. "Where are you going?"

"A walk," he replied.

"Oh don't give me that, buster!" Kayo fussed, jabbing a finger at him. "You know something, don't you?"

"Yes yes," he conceded. "This cat here is a sunekosuri, a small harmless yokai. It is frightened of something."

"So you're just going to go out into the dark and _find _it?" Kayo questioned.

He peered at the small village of a street at the edge of the farmlands. "Something is happening here."

Kayo frowned. He was terrible at explaining himself and his supernatural sense, but she couldn't blame him. Since they'd been traveling together, he began to speak more. He spoke longer sentences and explained more to her instead of simply saying 'perhaps' or 'who knows' all the time. He wasn't one of many words unless he was gossiping. But that simple statement told her enough that he sensed something amiss. "I'm coming with you."

He didn't object, offering her a slight grin before turning towards the small village. Lanterns were lit within the city and he didn't exactly expect the night life to be very active in such a remote location. Nearing the edge of the houses, he found it to be a somber occasion. Both men and women in black funeral kimono stood around the edges of the small street with a woman in a white kimono lay in the center.

A recent death. Hardly uncommon in such rural areas where people worked into the ground and likely died young. He could feel something unnatural in the air, and the sunekosuri attempting to cower into his arm was a good indication he was right.

"Come, let us finish the funeral quickly," one of the villagers urged.

"It'll arrive if we don't," another insisted. "Miss Neko will never find rest if it does."

"They've all been shooed away and it's a clear night. We have nothing to worry about," Iwa, the neighbor lady, assured the gathered.

"I hope you're right this time, Miss Iwa," the first villager worried. "We can't let this keep happening."

The medicine seller watched them quietly. They were afraid of something that would appear in the night. A number of yokai were nocturnal, but the people gathered here were worried about something specific showing up.

And that specific thing soon made itself known. Something on the nearby rooftop suddenly lit ablaze, lighting up the night sky in brilliant red and orange flames. It leapt down to the ground, causing the villagers to scatter as it neared the dead woman.

"I see," the medicine seller observed the creature lit ablaze as it attempted to frighten the villagers back away from the dead body. "A mononoke has arrived."

**...**

**Author's notes**

Sunekosuri are an interesting yokai and probably one of the more harmless. Some tales describe them as dogs and some as cats. According to legend, a sunekosuri is to blame if you suddenly trip over your own feet. After all, it's not clumsiness. It's a yokai you didn't see.


	25. Body snatchers

The beast was barely visible within the bright light of the flames. It was taller than most men, covered in some manner of fur with large teeth and a very angry expression. Reaching forward, it snatched the dead body straight out of the coffin.

Kayo gasped, staring in shock. "What _is _that?"

The medicine seller didn't answer, simply handing the cowering sunekosuri to her. He pushed through the crowd, standing in front of the mononoke. He pulled the taima sword from his obi, brandishing it at the mononoke. "What is your reason for doing this?" he questioned it.

The creature didn't respond, grasping the dead woman in its arms as it bore its teeth at the medicine seller. It didn't need this interference from some stranger in a colorful kimono. Bending its knees, it leapt up onto the rooftops, quickly leaping from home to home to flee.

The medicine seller turned, quick on his feet as the geta slapped against the barely cobbled road. Spreading his arms, he summoned dozens of ofuda spell papers, flinging them at the mononoke. Several snagged the mononoke in the leg, causing it to trip and drop the woman. She tumbled off the building, nearly colliding with the ground had the medicine seller not caught her. He dealt with far too many deaths to disrespect the dead so easily.

He watched as the mononoke disappeared into the night. He couldn't pursue it into its domain just yet. He'd have to wait for its return.

"Neko! Nekoooo!" a woman shouted between sobs. "Thank you, stranger!"

The rest of the crowd caught up, exchanging expressions of relief that Neko hadn't been lost.

"What was that thing?" one of the men questioned.

"A mononoke." Handing the body back off to the sobbing woman, the medicine seller turned, peering into the night. "A creature born of strong negative human emotions. This one has taken the shape of a kasha." The taima sword chattered a reply as he tucked it back into his obi.

"A… a mononoke?" the man repeated. "But it was a cat?"

"A kasha is simply the form it has taken," the medicine seller confirmed, "a cat-like yokai which feasts upon the bodies of the recently deceased. Yet it is still not a cat."

"The cats are still to blame!" Iwa hissed. "Until they came around, this wasn't a problem!"

"Cats are common in fields," the medicine seller pointed out. "They eat mice."

Iwa scoffed. "There are far too many. They'll become dangerous like that one!" she jabbed a finger at the small creature in Kayo's arms.

"That," the medicine seller indicated the small ball of fur, "is also not a cat. It is a sunekosuri."

"A what?" the man panicked.

"A yokai which consumes insects and weeds," the medicine seller informed them calmly. "It is hardly a threat unlike the mononoke which attempted to steal Miss Neko." He nearly grinned at the irony that the one who was nearly carried off by a cat-like yokai was literally named Cat.

"There's no way that this sune-whatever isn't a threat," Iwa insisted, folding her arms angrily.

"It's kind of cute," one of the woman admitted. "It's so tiny and adorable."

"Neko would've liked it," the woman holding the dead woman sobbed.

"You're all as bad as Mr. Terumune!" Iwa hissed. "That thing is just as bad as all those strays. They're a nuisance that need to be dealt with!"

"The cats good for the fields," Terumune announced, approaching the group. "We heard the commotion. Is everyone okay?"

"We're fine thanks to this man," the panicked man replied. "That thing attempted to steal Neko from us. A monosomething?"

"Mononoke," the medicine seller corrected him.

"This is ridiculous," Iwa threw her hands up in frustration. "What is wrong with all you people?"

"You are always so insistent to blame problems on someone or something else," Saki fussed at her.

"A giant flaming _cat_ just nearly stole Miss Neko!" Iwa jabbed a finger at the darkness where it had disappeared.

"Mononoke," the medicine seller corrected her.

"Whatever!" Iwa hissed.

"It can be slain, to relieve it of the regret that drives it," he informed them.

"You can stop this thing?" Terumune looked helpful.

"I can," he replied, "if I can learn its truth and reason, how and why it came to be."

"You're just fishing for information," Iwa jabbed a finger at him.

"There you go, accusing people who come to help," Saki shook her head. "Ever since you came to this town, I don't think you've ever trusted a single person here."

"How dare you judge me, Saki," Iwa hissed.

"You do nothing but complain," Saki pointed out. "Ever since you married Mr. Kamekichi and moved here. You won't even come to visit when I cook extra noodles."

"You're far too friendly, Saki," Iwa commented. "Inviting random people to stay with you when you have extra noodles. We wouldn't have Mr. Butts-into-our-business and his cat-loving wife here to interfere." She jabbed a finger at the medicine seller.

"Apprentice!" Kayo hissed.

"That man just saved Neko from being consumed!" the sobbing woman defended him.

The medicine seller glanced between those gathered. The farming village was a tangled social nightmare that made it difficult to tell who might be the origin of the mononoke. There was the sobbing woman and her frightened husband. A handful of couples that looked like farmers given the worn look of their hands. Saki and Terumune were among them, now arguing with the neighbor Iwa with her noticeably absent husband. Someone passable as a shrine maiden stood off to the side with a bewildered look. People began to shout at each other.

The medicine seller frowned, jabbing the taima sword between all of them, quickly silencing the squabbles. When the silence overtook the crowd, he questioned the people gathered. There must be some clue as to the source. "When did this mononoke first appear?"

"About a month ago," the sobbing woman replied. "It stole Miss Nene. It was devastating!"

"We mourned for a week," the panicked man added. "We had hoped it wouldn't return but it did about a week ago when it stole Mr. Tadasuke! The poor old man!"

"Did something occur just before the kasha appeared to steal Miss Nene?" the medicine seller questioned.

The gathered crowd exchanged glances, attempting to remember anything that happened before a month ago. "There was the last harvest," Saki recalled.

"Something that could cause regret," the medicine seller clarified.

"My husband sometimes sleeps naked!" one of the women confessed.

"I put the fire out sometimes at night so get my wife to sleep closer to me!" a man shouted.

"I've bathed in the river!" someone else shouted.

"That's our drinking water, you gross jerk!" another hissed.

The medicine seller pursed his lips together. He had gotten them to talk, yet the issues they confessed to were hardly something capable of creating a mononoke. Perhaps the bath one but that one was mostly just rude.

Several small sunekosuri darted out from between the houses, cowering around the medicine seller's feet. This mononoke wasn't just terrorizing the human population. The cats and the small yokai were suffering as well.

"There's just so many of them!" Iwa shrieked.

"Do you not like cats?" the medicine seller questioned.

"Such pests!" Iwa hissed in reply. She attempted to kick them away, but the medicine seller quickly stopped her foot with the taima sword.

"Tell me something, Miss Iwa," the medicine seller stood back up to his full height. "Did something happen to you in the last month?"

"I don't like what you're implying," she replied indignantly, turning and storming back towards her farm. She yelped in surprise as the shadows lit ablaze and she found herself face to face with the malignant spirit. "Get away from me!"

The kasha reached forward, grasping Iwa with its fiery arm. She attempted to writhe free but as the flames began to catch on her kimono, she reached forward, placing a hand on the kasha's face. "This is revenge, isn't it?"

The kasha didn't respond, simply staring at her with a fierce anger in its eyes as it drew Iwa close to it almost like a fiery hug.

She leaned into it, feeling the fire begin to consume her. "You loved those beast cats more than you loved me. You all did. You deserved what came to you, as I deserve this for doing it."

Kayo gasped, clamping both hands on her mouth. She was shocked at the exchange between Iwa and the Kasha, barely able to react more. "Shouldn't we help her?"

The medicine seller listened to their words as they spoke, his taima sword poised in a defensive position. It was clear that Iwa knew she was guilty of the mononoke's truth and reason. Saving her wasn't possible either as the flames had quickly engulfed her entire form. No amount of burn salve could help with this. "We cannot."

The kasha opened its jaws wide, consuming what remained of Iwa.

**...**

**Author's notes**

There are so many wild cat-like yokai in legends. The Kasha is definitely one of the weirder ones I found (the weirdest was the cat that would blow fires out at night so you get cold when sleeping).

Japan seems to have this wild awe for magical cats, and not all of them are bad. The sunekosuri is a cute one, but that kasha, man that kasha. It is massive and sometimes described as human-sized and engulfed in brilliant flames that never burn it. It eats dead bodies so that the dead never get to rest.

The medicine seller is really fond of cats, and thankfully so is this village. Except for Iwa. But she's now Kasha food. This is why you shouldn't be mean to kitties, Iwa!

Writing the possible truths for the Kasha were incredibly enjoyable. This village has some hilariously dirty laundry. A pity none of them created the mononoke but now everyone knows that someone likes to bathe in the drinking water. That is pretty rude and gross.


	26. Crying Fire

The villagers were deadly silent as they piled into the tradepost for safety. Having body snatchers eat their recently dead was bad enough, but to have one consumed alive right in front of them was scarring. The scent of burnt flesh lingered in the air.

The dead woman Neko was laid out in the back room with dozens upon dozens of the medicine seller's seals on the walls. The villagers huddled in front of the tradepost, exchanging glances of worry and sadness. The sunekosuri huddled in the corner, frightened as much as the humans were.

Kayo leaned against the wall. It wasn't the worst she'd seen, but it was definitely ranking up there. She felt like she would never get the smell of burnt flesh out of her mind ever. "The truth and reason died with Miss Iwa, didn't it?"

"Perhaps," the medicine seller replied.

"I don't want the mononoke to suffer forever," Kayo frowned.

"There are other means to find the answer," the medicine seller informed her. "As before, the source isn't always the answer."

He wasn't wrong, she had to admit. They had been separated from the source of the mononoke's truth on several occasions, first with the hinnagami in the teahouse and recently the tanuki in the hot springs, but those were _separated_. This time, the source had _died_.

"The villagers will be safe here," the medicine seller added. "I shall inspect Miss Iwa's farm."

"I'm coming with you," Kayo demanded.

"Yes, yes," he didn't object, placing a hand on the door.

"Wait!" Saki called out to him.

He turned to face her.

"You can slay that mononoke thing, right?" Saki asked. "You just need to know what created it?"

"Yes," he replied simply.

"I think we all may have an idea," Saki admitted. "_Something_. We're not all certain, but something did happen much more than a month ago. At least we suspect it."

"Oh~?" the medicine seller questioned curiously.

"After Mr. Kamekichi's first wife died, he married Miss Iwa," Saki explained. "She came from a neighboring farming community, and she was never happy here. She was always complaining about how many cats were here or how much it rained."

"A few months ago, Mr. Kamekichi and his daughter seemingly disappeared," Terumune added. "Each time I went over to visit, they were simply 'away', or so Miss Iwa always said."

"It's been months since we've seen either of them," the crying woman added. "We thought they had died on a trip to the nearby city to sell their harvest and Miss Iwa simply didn't want to admit it."

"The daughter Uta used to play with our children all the time," the panicked man recalled. "But sometimes little Uta would look pale and famished. She'd come over and eat three bowls of noodles then play with the cats on the farm."

"Neglect?" the medicine seller reasoned.

"Definitely not from Kamekichi," the man replied. "He loved the girl. But Miss Iwa? Never once saw her show Uta any affection."

"There were rumors that Miss Iwa had killed Mr. Kamekichi," Terumune admitted. "Some even thought she'd buried him in the fields and that's why their harvest was so full this year. It was Mr. Kamekichi's own body and soul letting us know he was there. The cats would flock there, but Miss Iwa always shooed them away."

The medicine seller glanced at the taima sword in his hand. It had stayed silent so far, waiting for the truth and reason to be revealed. "The mononoke is not Mr. Kamekichi."

Saki gasped, horror in her eyes. "Is it Uta? That poor girl."

He stared at the sword. The girl could've died a dozen ways, but the information he'd received so far indicated only a few possibilities.

"She died from starvation, didn't she?" the panicked man worried. "Then buried in the fields as well?"

The sword had finally reacted. "The mononoke's truth," the medicine seller stated. "The reason for her anger has carried onto the cats she loved, transforming that negative emotion into the kasha that we saw this evening."

"Poor Uta," the sobbing woman cried. "Why her?!"

"I can imagine a dozen different reasons," Saki knit her brow in worry and sadness. "She used to be such a happy girl, but when Miss Iwa married into the family, she was nothing but miserable. Everything changed when Iwa came to our village. That one woman made everything worse."

The medicine seller glanced out the window, a flash of light catching his attention. The Kasha had returned sooner than expected, but he'd heard the tales of the villagers. He was quite certain of the reason that Uta had become a mononoke. It wasn't hard to guess. "I shall put her to rest."

Sliding the door open, he stepped out into the street. The kasha's flames were raging fiercely, lighting up the night sky. The medicine seller held the taima sword out before him. "Your reason was neglect. You simply wished to be loved, but Miss Iwa showed you nothing but misery. You mourned your father's death then your own, passing your sadness on to this form."

The sword chattered in confirmation. "Release! Release!"

The kasha lashed forward, setting the street ablaze. The medicine seller leapt backwards, drawing the taima sword from its sheath. His other self took over as the medicine seller was pushed through the fire and down the street. He landed on his feet, his dark eyes focused on the kasha and its pain.

"I want to be loved!" the kasha cried.

It was a simple wish, one that should've been fulfilled. He couldn't fathom how long Uta had been suffering, but it was enough to create the powerful mononoke now standing before him. The kasha lashed out, lighting more of the street ablaze and nearly catching the medicine seller's hair on fire.

He swept his hand around, using the runes from his arms to contain the fires as he dodged the sharp claws that now struck out at him. He blocked the next attack with the taima sword and its colorful blade. "You shall see your father soon."

Fiery tears rolled down the kasha's face. The sadness and anger was too much to bear, even in this form. The kasha fell to its knees, sobbing miserably.

"Humans are capable of terrible things," he stated, "yet there are those capable of good. The people of this village cared for you."

"I ate them, didn't I?" the kasha cried. "I just wanted to be with them!"

"It was not your fault," the medicine seller consoled the mononoke. "It never was." He drew the blade back, and with a slice, the kasha had finally found some rest.

"Mr. Medicine Seller!" Kayo cried out as the flames began to die down. She scampered out of the building, hoping it wasn't another case like the foxfire where he burnt his entire arm.

He stood still poised with the sword out to his side as his outer self without a burn on him. A sunekosuri laying motionless at his feet.

The villagers had followed Kayo close behind, all worried with what had transpired.

Saki stared at the small creature at the medicine seller's feet. "Is that…"

"The mononoke." He knelt down, scooping the lifeless creature into his arms. "Bury it in Miss Uta's honor."

…..

The small sunekosuri scampered about in the streets, playing with the cats and the children of the village. Kayo watched them with a smile. The entire village had changed since last night. Iwa had placed a weight on the entire village with her sour attitude towards the people and the cats who had made this place their home. With her now gone and the mononoke put to rest, it felt like a huge burden had suddenly been lifted from their hearts.

After the battle last night, a small ceremony took place. They held a proper funeral for Kamekichi and Uta, burying the sunekosuri in the fields of their farm. It was a small gesture, but it felt like the two had finally found rest.

"Off so soon?" Saki questioned.

"We are," the medicine seller replied. His medicine chest was now well stocked and ready for the road ahead. The villagers assembled common medicinal herbs, giving them to him as thanks for helping Uta and Kamekichi.

"I'd say, stay for awhile, but I imagine there are others like Uta who need help," Saki reasoned.

"There are," he confirmed.

"I hope you can help them all on your journeys. Perhaps we'll cross paths again," Saki looked hopeful. "Not with another mononoke, though. Just for business."

A small grin tugged at the edge of his lips. "Perhaps."

**...**

**Author's notes**

Name meanings:

Kamekichi (little turtle, essentially) – the dead husband

Iwa (boulder, indicating firmness) – the stubborn, now eaten wife

Uta (song) – the kasha

Neko (cat) – the dead woman ironically eaten by a giant flaming cat

Saki (harvest) – Terumune's wife

Terumune (shining faith. I honestly just liked the sound of it) – the farmer


	27. A lord's request

The medicine seller paused in their journeys to stare up at the trees. Several birds were perched up on the trees, chattering at each other. They stopped to stare back at him, opening a third eye on their foreheads before flitting off to carry on their conversation elsewhere. _Harmless yokai_, he observed as he watched them go. _An intriguing conversation they were having about a recent storm._

"Why do we really have to go on a boat?" Kayo whined.

"Are you afraid of boats, Miss Kayo?" the medicine seller mused.

"After the _last_ time we were on a boat?!" Kayo fussed. "The Ayakashi Sea! I still haven't forgotten what that nightmare fish showed me."

"It was just an illusion," he reminded her.

"Yeah yeah, but it felt real!" she fussed some more as she jabbed a finger at him. "Just because you can handle weird supernatural things doesn't mean normal people can!"

"Yes, yes," he grinned a little bit, amused by her fussing. "But we aren't traveling by sea. It's just a short trip down the river."

She pursed her lips, upset. She didn't like the idea that the boat was the fastest way to travel, but she had to admit, a shorter path would be better. "Wouldn't it be more expensive?"

"Not in the least," he shook his head. "The trip is paid in full, as will be our task."

"Task?" Kayo questioned. "You mean whatever that man in a nice outfit was talking to you about?"

He pulled a rolled up piece of paper from his sleeve, offering it to her. "Every so often, I receive a letter from a local lord about a potential mononoke."

"Wait, are you serious?" she rolled open the letter, skimming the very neat calligraphic handwriting.

"Some time ago, I did slay a mononoke for the lord's grandfather, and everytime the grandson, the current lord, hears a bump in the night, he is certain it's a mononoke," the medicine seller explained. "The last time I visited, he swore it was a bakeneko. Truthfully, it was simply a cat who had given birth underneath the walkway to a full litter of kittens."

Kayo snorted a laugh. "This guy's seriously paranoid."

"His father was much the same," the medicine seller added. "Mononoke or not, he does always pay handsomely."

"How handsome are we talking?" Kayo questioned.

"Pork ramen," he replied. "For a full month."

Kayo's eyes nearly bulged out of her face. She grabbed his hand, nearly yanking him along urgently. Sure a diet of rice bowls with the occasional noodle bowl was nice, but nice noodle bowls for a month? That trumped any concern about ayakashi on a boat. "What are we waiting for!"

"Miss Kayo, the boat isn't going anywhere yet. We have time," he resisted her yanking with ease.

She huffed. "Fine, fine."

"Also we are there on sales business," he added. "The lord does not wish for rumors of mononoke to spread about the region. It's been our agreement since I first met the grandfather."

She stopped for a moment, scrutinizing him. He spoke of the generations as if he'd encountered them for decades, but he didn't look much older than she did. She had come to reason he was some sort of supernatural being that looked human, but she still had so many questions about her mysterious companion. "Just how old are you really?"

"I wonder," he replied vaguely, plucking the missive from her hands and shoving it back into his sleeve.

She puffed up. She knew he'd give a vague answer, but it still irritated her each time. "Let's just catch that boat, Gramps."

The boat ride proceeded without interference, though Kayo spent much of the trip nervously sitting on her feet. She wasn't as familiar with the with the supernatural world just yet to know what ayakashi dwelled within the river. Technically ayakashi and yokai could dwell anywhere, so there were probably ten types in the river beneath their feet.

Kayo stepped off the boat with wobbly legs, her knees nearly buckling when they arrived at a large wooden gate of a palatial estate. "This is-!"

The medicine seller cut her off with a single finger to the lips.

The estate was enough to tell her where she was, a regional feudal lord's home and not some small local lord. This was no small task before them, whether it was kittens beneath the floorboards or some actual mononoke. She was hoping for the former as she followed him into the estate as the wooden gates closed behind them.

"Lord Ii has been expecting you," the samurai informed them, beckoning them to follow. "I hope you have what he desired specifically from you."

"I do." The medicine seller followed the samurai at a respectable distance, wondering how much the samurai actually knew. The medicine seller had been to the estate a number of times, feeling more comfortable with his surroundings than Kayo notably was. He took the travel time to glance around for any changes since he'd last been summoned. There were notably more flowering trees in the gardens, reaching over the guardhouses to greet them. Some stone walls had been repaired recently. A few birds gathered in the trees. Ordinary birds, not yokai carrying on a conversation about the weather.

Regardless of there being a mononoke here or not, he wanted to ensure he had observed all he could. There was still the chance of it being kittens or an actual mononoke. Lord Ii hadn't been exactly descriptive about it. He peered at one of the outer walkways, noting staff busy replacing the tatami mats and a door.

He slipped his geta shoes off at the stairs, setting them aside respectfully as he and Kayo entered one of the larger rooms. As the samurai slid the shoji paper door shut, he offered a deep respectful bow. "Lord Ii"

"Mr. Medicine Seller," the young feudal lord stood up to greet him. "It's been awhile. And you have a wife?"

"My apprentice, Miss Kayo," he quickly replied before Kayo had a chance to huff. "Not more kittens this time, I hope."

Lord Ii picked up the stool, setting it down closer towards the pair and settling into it despite the cumbersome amount of robes and formal kimono he was currently wearing. "The kittens have long since found a new home about the grounds. Never can be too careful that they don't pick up a grudge."

Kayo nearly visibly shuddered thinking about the bakeneko in her own experience.

"They do not pick up grudges so easily," the medicine seller mused, "but I am glad to see they are well cared for."

"I truly wish it were kittens, but something strange has been happening for the past week," the lord admitted. "Ever since that assassination attempt on my father…."

"An assassination attempt? In this era?" Kayo questioned.

"You are observant, Miss Kayo," the lord agreed. "Assassinations are very rare under the Tokugawa Shogunate, but there was indeed one just last week on the grounds here. You may wish to cover your ears for this part. What happened isn't pleasant."

She pursed her lips together. She'd seen a lot of unpleasant things in the past few months with each mononoke they encountered. "I think I can handle it."

The lord peered at the Kayo for a moment. She certainly was the medicine seller's apprentice with a statement like that. "The assassin was stopped that night. Eviscerated, among other things. A bit too extreme for how I prefer to handle things, but the samurai believed it necessary at the time."

"The repairs on the outer balcony," the medicine celler reasoned.

The lord nodded.

Kayo grimaced, just thinking about someone's entrails being scattered about on the walkway and doors.

"After that night, there have been strange sounds each evening," the lord informed them. "The staff is spooked. I'm concerned this will get out. I'd like you both to stay the night and see if this is just paranoia after the incident or truly we have another mononoke cursing the place. You are the best investigator I know."

The medicine seller tapped a finger on his lips thoughtfully. Such a scenario certainly could lead up to a mononoke's creation, but it was difficult to assess at this time. It could simply be a failed assassination attempt and nothing moret. "As you wish."

"I knew I could count on you," Lord Ii patted the medicine seller on the shoulder. "I have business to attend but anything you learn, please notify me right away."

The medicine seller nodded as the young lord saw himself out. He took to his feet, slinging the medicine chest over his shoulders.

"That was…. unsettling," Kayo admitted, watching the young lord leave. She'd never seen a lord act so familiar towards someone at the bottom of the caste almost like they were friends. But now wasn't the time to think about personal relations. She still had the idea of a murder glued to her mind. "Eviscerated on the balcony. Do you think there could be a mononoke?"

"I haven't yet sensed anything," the medicine seller confessed, "yet I've never seen him so unnerved. He is truly concerned about this and wishes to keep this from spreading around."

"How does something like this _not_ spread around?" Kayo questioned.

"Did you hear any rumors about the city?" the medicine seller countered.

He had a point. She _hadn't_ heard anything yet. An assassination attempt likely wouldn't ruin a feudal daimyo, but it certainly would be the talk of the town. There would be concerns for a lack of peace in the current era, that their city was falling apart. The latter _could_ ruin a daimyo. He was nothing without his people.

She and the medicine seller _loved_ rumors. They were the best way to know what was happening in the world or anything of interest. Yet when they were on the boat and in the city, she hadn't heard anything about a murder attempt or that someone had been _eviscerated_.

She felt a bit unnerved by the situation, and it was written all over her face.

"Don't worry so much," the medicine seller offered. "This could simply be a case of owls nesting in the trees."

He had a point there, too. The last incident turned out to be kittens. "R-right."

"We'll wait until tonight," he added, opening the sliding door to find a rather attentive woman in a colorful kimono waiting for them.

"This way," she offered them.

The medicine seller and Kayo followed the woman through a maze of walkways, arriving at a guest room closer to the servants and staff quarters reserved for those of lesser rank. It was a smaller room with walls decorated with scenes of ponds and flying egrets, accented by a colorful wash of cherry blossoms and flowering trees. A simple table sat in the center with some tea already steeping on a tray.

Night would be setting soon, but until then, it was expected to be uneventful. He settled down at the table, pulling a sweet from the jar to accompany the fresh green tea. Perhaps he should help Lord Ii expand his selection of teas one time when they weren't dealing with a potential situation. But even just for green tea, it certainly was well made.

Dinner came and went, as did a second pot of tea. Night set in, the crickets and frogs sounding out in a nightly chorus. The medicine seller stood at the open paper door, feeling the cool evening breeze brush past him. The night was clear, the stars twinkling overhead. A wind chime jingled somewhere in the distance. There was nothing unusual, nothing at all, but something itched at the back of his mind. Something otherworldly was in the air.

"Come, Miss Kayo," he spoke, suddenly stepping out onto the walkway and finding his geta.

She scrambled for her sandals, noticing the intrigued look on his face. "You think something might be out here in the middle of the night?"

"Perhaps," he replied.

She huffed at his vagueness. Likely he didn't know, not without some investigations first, but he could at least give her a hint whether it was sensing a mononoke or just hearing something in the distance.

She leapt as an owl shouted from the rooftop, clinging to his back.

"It's simply an owl, Miss Kayo," he informed her, amused. "Nothing more."

"Right, a _normal _owl." She unwound herself from him, still rather unnerved. The medicine seller wasn't exactly good at telling her what he was thinking. Even with him talking more than he once did, he still could be a man of few words. Perhaps as she traveled with him more, she'd get him to open up and talk to her. Perhaps not. He was still that enigmatic, supposedly uninteresting guy that piqued her interest constantly.

Yet right now wasn't the time to ponder as a blood-curdling scream echoed through the courtyard, shaking Kayo to her core. She certainly wasn't being paranoid with _that_. She leapt for him only to find he'd already taken off down the walkway. "H-hey! Don't run off like that!" She scampered off after him, not wanting to be left alone right now.

He came to a stop at the edge of the group on the walkway. She practically climbed up him, wanting to see the source of the commotion before quickly burying her head in the back of his kimono. Strewn across the walkway was one samurai, or what was left of one, the body eviscerated then smeared across the tatami.

"He was just standing here a moment ago!" the youngest woman panicked. "He just walked past the room! He was _fine_!"

"There was no one else here!" the woman in a green kimono insisted.

"Well _someone's _responsible," the samurai in red insisted. "Search the grounds for an assassin!"

The medicine seller watched as several samurai bolted down the stairs and dispersed. He took the opportunity to step forward, quickly thwarted by the red samurai.

"You're suspicious here too, medicine seller," the samurai threatened. "Guest or not. Who has a medicine seller and his wife as a guest anyway?"

"Apprentice," he corrected the samurai. "And you won't find an assassin here, not a human one." He gently pushed the samurai aside with a single finger

The samurai looked shocked. Kayo couldn't tell if the shock was from the medicine seller was telling someone of higher rank the situation or just that he was literally that strong.

"The claw marks," the medicine seller pointed out. "They are not from a human."

The red samurai squinted at the body. Sure enough the torso was covered in deep, devastating claw marks and scratches. "What animal does that?"

"Not an animal," the medicine seller corrected him. "A mononoke."

**...**

**Author's notes**

I thought it would be fascinating of "what if there was someone who the medicine seller encountered a number of times?" Most of the characters don't believe mononoke are a thing but what if there's someone that's paranoid about mononoke around every corner? That's Lord Ii.

His name is ii (pronounced Eeee), not Li, though it looks like that, doesn't it?

Some history here! Mononoke seems to take place during the Edo Era, which follows the Sengoku warring period era. The Tokugawa shogunate now runs the place and there's absolutely no war. The idea of an assassination attempt and a murder would be devastating to an area lord (just read _47 Ronin_. It destroys an entire lordship and his han, his land). The estate would definitely keep an assassination attempt under wraps here to hide any drama going on. And the medicine seller and Kayo are both good at finding rumors and drama.

So what is the story behind the assassination attempt? What a mystery! Hopefully there will be no more smearing. Kayo will be happy when they stop describing it like that.


	28. A smear of black and red

"A mononoke," the red samurai sighed. "Not this nonsense again."

"It's not nonsense!" Kayo pointed out sharply, using the medicine seller as a perch to look taller. "They're real things that come into the human world with a vengeance but they can be stopped!"

"Miss Kayo," the medicine seller attempted to get her attention.

"When we know the truth, form, and reason, he can slay it!" she continued.

"Miss Kayo," he repeated.

She huffed, pursing her lips. "What?"

"You're going to break my neck.," he replied. She had pushed against the side of his head and shoulder in a particularly uncomfortable position that was wholly unnatural. He couldn't fault her for how she was trying to get the samurai's attention. He simply wanted to keep his head on his shoulders in the process. He rubbed at the side of his neck as she climbed back down.

"What is your disrespectful woman going on about?" the samurai demanded, practically jabbing the butt of the katana into the medicine seller's ribs.

"My _apprentice_ is correct about the nature of mononoke that exist in this world," the medicine seller replied. "They are created by strong human negative emotions, and I would imagine recent incidents may have created it."

"What exactly are you _implying_, merchant?" the samurai demanded again.

"Oh nothing that would concern a high-ranking samurai such as yourself. Just ramblings of an ordinary medicine seller," he replied coyly.

The red samurai scowled, looking rather offended. "There's nothing ordinary about you!"

The medicine seller stared at the samurai for a moment. Something was off in this situation. His supernatural senses were screaming out from something other than the murdered body lying smeared across the tatami in front of them. They were outside, which meant the mononoke could be anything and anywhere. Given the information so far, he couldn't assess the form or the reason just yet, though he had an idea of the truth.

A smear of black in the night sky caught his attention. He grabbed for Kayo, pulling her back by the collar of her kimono and wrapping a hand around her eyes. Holding his free hand, he called out for the taima sword but it was too late. The black mass had struck the samurai in front of them, clawing at his chest.

Kayo didn't object. She could hear the noise. Something awful was happening.

"Miss Kayo, turn around," the medicine seller spoke quietly as he released her. The taima sword reached his grasp, and he leapt forward, jabbing the sword at the black mass. The black creature let out a bone-shattering screech, knocking Kayo into the wall and pushing the medicine seller back a few feet.

This was definitely a mononoke without a doubt and a particularly angry one. The medicine seller leapt forward, abandoning his geta and perching on the railing in his tabi socks. Brandishing the taima sword with his left, he pushed back with his right. The black mass was incredibly strong, nearly pushing him off the railing as he resisted it. "What has made you so angry?"

The samurai rolled backwards into the wall, gasping for air in shock and pain. "What is that thing?!"

"Get back!" the medicine seller demanded, pushing against the black mass with his right hand. Blood trickled down his fingers as he fought it but he eventually won, the creature retreating into the darkness of the night. Tucking the taima sword into his obi, he hopped off the railing. Reaching down, he hoisted the wounded samurai onto his shoulders. This samurai appeared to be a very specific target to this black mass, and the medicine seller wanted to know why.

The samurai attempted to protest. "What are you-"

"Don't talk," the medicine seller told him sharply. "Everyone. Follow me. We need to tend to his wounds immediately. One of you two, please find Lord Ii and tell him what's happened before the mononoke returns."

The two women stared at each other for a moment. "I-I'll go," the younger woman volunteered. "Kawa can go with you." She stood up with shaky legs, barely able to scamper off down the walkway.

The woman in the green kimono followed the medicine seller, Kayo following suit after she retrieved his geta.

Kayo slid the door open to their room, dropping the geta off and kicking her sandals into the corner before scampering off towards the chest. With a heave, she lifted the chest, toting it over to the table.

Shoving the tea set off to the side with his foot, the medicine seller lay the samurai down on the table. "Miss Kayo, please gather the scales. I need to know how much time I have before the mononoke returns."

"R-right!" Kayo understood, pulling the bottom drawer open. "Okay, Mr. Scales. I need your help!" She held out her arms and the scales came to visit her once again, piling onto them and bowing politely at her.

The medicine seller began working at pulling the shredded plate armor away, revealing the nasty wounds underneath. The samurai's stomach had mostly been damaged, deep scratches spanning much of his belly. The mononoke had attempted to eviscerate him right on the spot.

"I'm…. those scales are moving on their own…." the samurai babbled.

"Don't talk," the medicine seller repeated. He placed a small towel over the wound. "Hold this," he instructed Kawa, the woman in the green kimono. "Put pressure on the wound." As she did, he tied his sleeves back before turning to the medicine chest, quickly removing the mortar and pestle along with a handful of ingredients.

Kayo busied herself with scattering the scales mostly around the door that faced the walkway plus a few in the back where she wasn't sure if it were a door or a closet. As she placed the last one, they dropped their bells, tipping but remaining quiet. She sighed in relief. "What sort of nasty mononoke was that?" she questioned, taking the mortar that he handed to her.

"A particularly angry one, though I cannot claim to have seen one that takes to evisceration," the medicine seller replied, digging out a sponge to apply the medicine and handing it to Kayo. "We'll need to learn more about it before it kills again. That medicine will sting at first, but it's effective."

Kayo dipped the sponge into the salve, kneeling down and rubbing it across the samurai's skin. He grimaced but he didn't fight her, letting her continue her work.

"I can't… I can't believe Lord Ii was… right about this mononoke stuff….." the samurai confessed between gasps for air.

The medicine seller turned back to the table with another bowl of salve in hand. Carefully, he rubbed it directly along the wound, wiping his fingers on the towel. "In a moment, this should feel tingly."

"Mononoke are pretty terrifying," Kayo admitted, moving to rub the salve on the more shallow wounds. "But if anyone can help with them, it's Mr. Medicine Seller. He'll help relieve it of its anger and then it can rest."

"Help it?" the samurai questioned. "It just murdered Samanosuke!" He sputtered a bit, leaning to the side as the pain from the wound caused him to cough and wheeze.

The medicine seller pressed down on the samurai's shoulder to keep him from moving. "Mononoke are borne of dark human emotions. They did not ask to be created, to carry that regret and pain." He threaded the needle, carefully working on the wound to stitch the wound in the torso back together. "Something happened during the assassination attempt to create this." He glanced at the taima sword, which remained quiet. "I wonder…."

The sliding door rattled a moment, and the medicine seller sprang to his feet. The scales hadn't made any noise to indicate that the source of the noise was the mononoke. It could be anything but thankfully it wasn't trouble. It was Lord Ii and the younger woman.

"Oh kami protect us," Lord Ii knit his brow in worry. "I could barely believe what happened when Momo told me. If the body on the walkway wasn't enough…"

"He shall live," the medicine seller informed him, settling back on his knees to finish the stitches. "I drove it back, but it will return again."

Lord Ii buried his face in his hands. "To think another mononoke has ravaged our home."

"Certainly not a tanuki again," the medicine seller informed him, tying off the stitches. "This mononoke is much more aggressive. Did anyone else die last week or was it solely the assassin?"

Lord Ii knit his brow, the concern for the estate and its people twisting itself across his face. "I only know of the assassin. I haven't noticed anyone missing either. Could the assassin's brutal death have caused this?"

"Possibly," the medicine seller replied, "but there's more to it. We have not yet learned the full truth of how the mononoke was created."

"What more could there be?" Lord Ii worried. "Regret that he couldn't finish the job? I don't want to lose anyone else. I've already lost Samanosuke, nearly Akinobu too. I need to-" He cut himself off as the scales on the floor suddenly turned sideways, their bells jingling as they tipped towards the door.

The mononoke had already returned. The door slid open, the black mass glaring into the room. Lord Ii stared at it, wide-eyed and terrified. He desperately wanted it to be kittens under the walkway again.

The medicine seller leapt up from behind the table. Swiping his hand to the left, he shoved Lord Ii out of the mononoke's path, causing the young lord to get tangled up with Momo and tumble down to the tatami. The medicine seller wasn't certain how discriminating the mononoke's evisceration spree would be, but it became very apparent when it completely dismissed Lord Ii and dove directly for Akinobu on the table. It was _hunting._

Pulling the taima sword from his obi, he leapt over the table, meeting the mononoke halfway. "What is your truth? Your reason? What _are _you truly?"

The mononoke didn't answer beyond an unholy screech that rattled the teakettle on the floor and the screens on the walls. The medicine seller wasn't expecting much more than that given how irate it seemed to be. There was something about that assassination attempt that was more than just a brutal encounter. Something else sat just behind what he'd been told, a hidden and likely gruesome truth that someone wasn't saying.

The mononoke reached forward, grasping the medicine seller's bare arm with shadowy talons and squeezing it tightly. He could feel the pain forming in his arm. He bore his teeth at it, fangs and all, as he pressed forward with his unhindered left hand grasping the taima sword.

He managed to push the mononoke back out the door though not without consequence. The mononoke's claws had torn at his skin, ripping it before finally releasing it. He swiped his hand to the side, shutting the door from a distance. Pain rippled up his right arm while blood dripped down it, but now wasn't the time to worry about the damage done.

Shoving the taima sword into his obi, he worked with his left hand, his right arm now somewhat useless. In a sweeping motion, he plastered the walls with ofuda paper which lit up like red stars in the night sky as the mononoke paced back and forth outside on the walkway. Scratching sounds ensued as it attempted to break in, followed by something shrill and bird-like in nature.

The medicine seller paused for a moment, watching the door carefully as he listened. Those sounds were distinctly owl in nature, even with the distortions of the mononoke's voice. "I believe we are dealing with a tatarimokke."

The taima sword chattered in confirmation.

This could prove to be difficult.

**...**

**Author's notes**

Now I would reason that, while not a doctor, the medicine seller likely knows how to treat more than just sickness and similar ailments. Here it just happens to be treating and stitching up a near evisceration caused by an angry tatarimokke, probably something he'd learned dealing with mononoke. Knowing the ins and outs of remedies and salves and even some basic stitches would make him a very good peddler of medicines and anesthetics.

Akinobu is just fortunate the medicine seller knows this and acted quickly. After all, the mononoke seems to be hunting him. But why?

I do wonder.


	29. A samurai's tale

The medicine seller dropped to a knee, the chattering teeth of the taima sword echoing in the nearly silent room. The mononoke had retreated once again into the depths of the night, the ofuda plastered across the walls falling quiet. It had been awhile since a mononoke had managed to nearly best him in a show of force. The hinnagami had come close, though the fall through the floor had been more damaging than the mononoke itself.

Wordlessly, Kayo leapt over the table with bandages and some salve. He didn't fight her when she took his arm and began tending to the large wound. The pain was written on his face as he gritted his teeth, the pronounced fang in the back barely showing past the edge of his lips.

A moment had passed before anyone had spoken. "What is…" Lord Ii stumbled over his words for a moment. "What is this tatarimokke?"

"An omen owl," the medicine seller replied. "They are normally harmless, lost souls getting stuck to an owl upon death. Yet this one, it was created with regret and anger, turning it very vicious and vengeful."

Lord Ii sucked in a strained breath as one of the farthest scales tipped just slightly. "R-regret that the assassination failed?"

"This ire runs much deeper than that," the medicine seller reasoned. The taima sword hadn't responded to the notion despite repeated mentions of the possible truth. He watched the scale tip a bit, indicating where the mononoke had passed by the room, before standing back upright and falling silent. "Do you see how the scales are moving?"

Kayo peered up from her work in wrapping his arm. "It's tracking the mononoke's movements like it was with the bakeneko. Is it prowling?"

"Hunting," the medicine seller replied. "Something very specific is driving this tatarimokke. The most vicious of the sort of tatarimokke are capable of cursing not only those who have wronged it but also their entire family. This one seems to be enacting a physical sort of curse."

"That's…. unsettling," Kayo swallowed hard, trying not to think of the body smeared across the walkway outside.

"What truly happened last week with the assassin, Lord Ii?" the medicine seller questioned. "All the details."

"That's all that I know, honestly," Lord Ii replied with a shaky voice. "I wasn't even there. I had only seen the aftermath despite Akinobu's insistence not to."

"Curious that he would insist against it," the medicine seller peered at the wounded samurai on the table.

"It's not exactly becoming of a young lord to vomit over the side of a balcony," Lord Ii frowned sharply. He huffed when he saw the slight amusement in the medicine seller's face.

"I don't think Mr. Akinobu is really up for talking at the moment," Kayo pointed out, seeing that the samurai had passed out for a moment. His wounds were rather deep and rest was necessary, though she wasn't entirely certain how he'd slept through all that noise.

Kayo leapt, dropping the gauze as a scream resounded through the courtyard followed by sounds of steel and cracking wood. She leapt behind the medicine seller, clinging to his shoulders. She really didn't want to think of another person being eviscerated outside as the mononoke hunted and hungered.

As the clamoring drew closer, the medicine seller wrapped up the last of the gauze, tucking in the tail end and taking to his feet. The seals would hold for the moment, yet as the mononoke could stand its ground against his own magics, he wasn't certain for how long.

Yet as the sound approached, neither the scales or the ofuda reacted when the door suddenly slid open. Kayo yelped, leaping onto the medicine seller's back and clinging to him.

"Miss Kayo. He is human," the medicine seller pointed at the samurai now stumbling into the room.

Kayo cautiously peered around his shoulders at a rather panicked samurai who looked white as a sheet with way too much smeared makeup. She hid back behind her protective medicine seller shield as the scales began to tip suddenly.

The medicine seller reacted, quickly swiping his hand to close the door and throwing more ofuda at the door to reinforce it. The door rattled as the screeching and clawing returned.

"It… it can't get in again, right?" Lord Ii stammered.

"For now," the medicine seller replied. "But these seals will not hold forever. We must find the mononoke's truth and reason before more die."

"More have!" the blue-clad samurai reported.

Lord Ii looked horrified. "What happened, Hisamatsu?"

"That creature. It flew out of the night!" the samurai replied. "Some black mass of who knows what! It ripped Yasunao into pieces and strewn him across the balcony!"

"It won't stop killing, will it?" Lord Ii worried.

"It may never stop," the medicine seller confirmed. "Mononoke do not think as humans do. Their desire for vengeance may be beyond our understanding. The killing may stop with those it feels has wronged it, or it may extend the ire to anyone here on the estate. Perhaps even the entire _han._"

"We… we need to protect Lord Ii," Akinobu stirred.

Hisamatsu stumbled past the medicine seller and Kayo, nearly falling over himself as he settled near the table. "At all costs, we'll slay the mononoke."

The medicine seller snorted derisively.

"How disrespectful!" Hisamatsu seethed.

Lord Ii glanced between Hisamatsu and the medicine seller. "There _is_ a way to slay it, right?"

"As soon as we learn the truth and reason," the medicine seller replied, wedging free of Kayo's grasp. "Only then can the taima sword be used to stop its rampage. Until then, we are unfortunately at its mercy."

"And there's something we're missing about the assassination incident," Lord Ii reasoned with concern.

"Unless there were other deaths recently," the medicine seller pointed out.

"Not that I'm aware of," Lord Ii shook his head. "I heard of a fire in a village some ways out, but that's not close enough for here, is it?"

"Perhaps," the medicine seller replied, though he wasn't ready to dismiss the incident outright. A fire could produce wrongful deaths and negative emotions, but that wasn't always enough to create a mononoke.

"It's the assassination," Akinobu spoke suddenly.

Lord Ii peered at his fallen samurai with concern. "Something else happened, didn't it?"

"Akinobu," Hisamatsu hissed.

"No," the red-clad samurai hissed. "We've stained our honor with our lies. This _thing_ could kill Lord Ii!"

The blue-clad samurai pushed on the hilt of his sword quietly, gasping when he could push it no further. The medicine seller had suddenly approached, placing one simple finger on the hilt and barring him from drawing the katana. "How did you-"

"Don't interfere," the medicine seller glared down at Hisamatsu.

"How dare you," he hissed back, moving to stand up and fight but found he couldn't fight that one singular finger on the hilt of his sword. "What are you?!"

The medicine seller defiantly ignored the question. "Mr. Akinobu, do you know more of this incident?"

"There was no assassin," Akinobu replied.

Lord Ii gasped. "N-no assassin? But who was smeared across the balcony?"

Kayo desperately wished they'd stop using 'smeared'.

"A local lord," the red-clad samurai continued despite Hisamatsu's hissing. "There was never an assassination attempt. It was all fabricated."

Hisamatsu had enough of Akinobu's loose lips. He pulled a dagger from within the folds of his robes while his other hand was still wrapped around the katana's hilt. With a twist in his body, he drew the knife back, aiming to drive it into the red samurai's neck. He would've been quite successful had he not found a tabi socked-foot driven into his chest before he could complete the task.

The medicine seller stood statuesquely still with his leg barely coiled up at his side as Hisamatsu tumbled across the tatami before colliding with the wall. "Don't interfere."

Lord Ii stared, shocked. He wasn't as surprised with the medicine seller's tactics as he was with how Hisamatsu was acting. "Oh… kami protect us."

The medicine seller didn't need to hear any of Hisamatsu's words to know he was hiding the truth about the assassination attempt. Something happened a week prior that was so incredibly horrible that he would even kill his own companions to keep it quiet. Akinobu's death would risk the truth and reason be buried forever and cause Lord Ii more pain that he was already in. And the medicine seller seemed to have a bit of a soft-spot for the kind-hearted, often paranoid feudal lord. There were still some good humans left in this world.

"What was fabricated?" the medicine seller demanded with a sharpness in his voice. "Do be specific."

"What happened with this local lord?" Lord Ii wanted answers as well.

"He was murdered," Akinobu replied. "It wasn't an assassination. Hisamatsu ordered him killed and fabricated the story."

"Lies!" Hisamatsu screeched.

"It was to cover something even deeper up," Akinobu added. "It was an unnecessary and brutal murder and now we've caused all this."

The taima sword chattered in confirmation. The truth had finally been revealed. He glanced at Lord Ii wringing his hands anxiously as he stared silently in shock. A pity this wasn't kittens beneath the balcony.

**...**

**Author's notes!**

Tatarimokke are quite the yokai. They are called omen owls and their name translates to curse baby, but they're not bad _normally_. They look like regular owls but their hoot sounds like a crying child. The yokai is created when a child's soul gets stuck to a regular owl.

In older eras, babies weren't considered fully human yet, so if a baby died, it wasn't buried in a cemetary or given a funeral. So the soul of the baby wanders and might get stuck. If a baby died recently in a house, the family looks for any owls that appear and consider them part of the family. They are likened to zashiki warashi (though Mononoke's version was as aggressive as this fic's tatarimokke) and are generally revered.

Like in the story here, a tatarimokke can be created by a family discarding babies into the river (too many mouths to feed!) or a brutal murder. In the latter case, a tatarimokke can curse a family and even their future unborn children.

A pity it's not just kittens under the walkway, isn't it Lord Ii?


	30. An Owl's Curse

"Lies!" Hisamatsu shouted. "It's all lies!"

"The taima sword has confirmed the momonoke's truth," the medicine seller placed a hand on it, "the circumstance that brought it into the human world."

Lord Ii padded over to the table with heavy steps, nearly collapsing to his knees in distress. He could feel his entire being shake, partially from fear of the mononoke and partially from anger about a murder. "Tell me everything."

"From the beginning," the medicine seller added. "We must know the reason for the mononoke's anger."

"The beginning." Akinobu stared at the wall opposite of his lord. The guilt in his heart about the incident was more painful than the wound on his gut. "My lord, do you recall how your father desired the most perfect garden?"

Lord Ii knit his brow in confusion. "He spoke of it many times."

"There was a small province headed by a lesser lord that grew a specific strain of plums," Akinobu continued. "He wished for them to be his own and only his own so he sent us to speak with the local lord. He refused to deprive his province of food, and I understood so we left."

Lord Ii knit his brow in concern. "This is because of plums?"

The scales began to tip just slightly, marking the return of the mononoke. Drawing the taima sword from his obi, the medicine seller watched the ofuda cautiously, noting only the ones at the top of the walls had activated. The scales began to tip back and forth strangely as they were unable to indicate where the monoke exactly was.

"Seems so," Akinobu confirmed. "Samanosuke was sent back to the village later. It was an accidental confrontation that caused a lantern to tip over and the village set ablaze. He did his best to stop the fire but it was no use."

"The rumors of the recent fire," Lord Ii recalled.

"It was an accident," Akinobu insisted. "And he reported that to your father. But what we didn't expect was the local lord showing up as well. He wished to speak with your father, and when he was denied any assistance in rebuilding the village, he wished to speak with you, my lord."

The medicine seller watched the movements of the ofuda as they activated and deactivated almost in sequence. The mononoke was pacing above them but it was hard to track exactly where. With a sweep of his hand, the scales all floated upwards, clinging to the ceiling instead. They quickly tipped towards the ceiling directly above Hisamatsu.

"And I would've granted them the funding without question," Lord Ii confirmed.

"Hisamatsu didn't want this," Akinobu continued. "He wanted to please your father. That's where his loyalties lie. So he crafted this murder and swore us all to secrecy less we all dishonor our families and yours. By lying, that's exactly what we did. We dishonored you in the end!"

The ceiling suddenly burst open, sending scales flying in all directions. Kayo leapt behind the table with the other two girls in surprise as the black mass of a mononoke reached downward, grasping Hisamatsu in its talons and dragging him upward into the darkness.

The medicine seller didn't have time to stop the mononoke from killing once more, not that Hisamatsu seemed that decent of a human being. But he wasn't here to judge humans and their folly. He was here to put mononoke to rest.

He leapt forward, taima sword in hand as he positioned himself between the mononoke and those still alive within the room. This mononoke would likely continue killing until every last person in the entire estate lay dead and smeared across the tatami. Drawing his hand back, he flung ofuda at the mononoke's arm in an attempt to contain it. The ofuda encircled it, preventing it from moving.

Yet the mononoke would not be thwarted so easily. A second arm burst through the ceiling, sending wood splinters and siding across the room. The medicine seller drew a wall of paper ofuda across the room, preventing any injuries from the debris. "Keep talking, Mr. Akinobu!"

Akinobu sucked in a strained breath before shouting loud enough so the mononoke could hear. "The local lord died in cold blood, unable to help his own people because of something we caused! I should've stopped Hisamatsu but I was too afraid of staining my own honor. Just take me, not my lord!"

The taima sword began to chatter before letting out a wail. "Release! Release!"

"Release! Put this mononoke to rest!" A bend in the knees and a tight grip on the taima sword, the medicine seller leapt into the second arm of the mononoke. He drew the sword in the darkness, the colorful blade driving upwards in the shadows as his other self took the hilt. He burst out the top of the mononoke's body and landed on the rooftop.

The owl mononoke withdrew its talons from the roof with an unholy shriek before attempting to claw at the medicine seller.

He leapt backwards, light on his feet as his white hair flowed around him like water as he moved. The taima sword remained at his side as he pushed the other hand forward. The markings on his arm beneath the wrapped bandages shifted, forming a shield to block the incoming attack. "Lord Ii knows of your truth and reason. Your death was not in vain."

He could see the mononoke still suffered, unable to cast aside its anger for what had transpired. It was an unfortunate truth, one caused by accidents, greed, and anger. Revenge could be difficult to let go.

But it was time to put the mononoke to rest, to relieve it of its pain. With a twist of his wrist, the markings on his body shifted from a shield to a rope, shooting forward and wrapping themselves around the tatarimokke's large shadowy form. Bending at the knees, he leapt above it, driving the sword downward and through the mononoke's body.

The shadows quickly faded as his outer self landed back in the room on one knee, the sheathed taima sword held in front of him in both hands as a small brown owl lay motionless at his feet.

Lord Ii stared. He'd heard stories from his grandfather, but he never expected to find his grandfather hadn't exaggerated _any of it_. The medicine seller really was someone that couldn't be explained, someone supernatural and amazing. "Is it… Was that the mononoke?"

"It was," the medicine seller replied. "Now it has found rest."

…

The gardens were in full bloom as the brilliant plum blossoms watched over the children chasing each other in the grass. Kayo knelt down, teaching some of the girls how to play a game. Several adults were watching the blossoms sway in the light breeze. Akinobu stood guard, watching and ensuring everyone in the garden was safe.

Lord Ii perched himself at the highest point in the gardens along a stone wall up the hillside. The medicine seller stood beside him. It was rather improper to position himself as he did, but Lord Ii had insisted he stood at his side as an equal. The young lord had favored the medicine seller before, but after he'd helped quell the mononoke's rage and uncover an insidious plot, Ii was certain he was more than just a simple medicine seller like he insisted.

"They all certainly look like they're enjoying themselves," Lord Ii observed.

"They do," the medicine seller agreed.

"I think opening up our gardens to the public was the right thing to do," Lord Ii added. "Don't you?"

The medicine seller glanced at his companion for a moment before turning back to the gardens. "Perhaps."

"Enigmatic as always," Lord Ii snorted a bit of a laugh. "Well, even with father's ritual suicide and Hisamatsu's death, I don't feel it's quite enough to repay the people for the accidental fire that took down Isemachi. I've diverted funds to help rebuild the town, but given what transpired, sharing the gardens with the people of this _han_ is a good step in the right direction. These trees, this fruit, this garden, it belongs to the people."

Lord Ii glanced at the medicine seller, but the mysterious man simply was watching something else. Ii could guess all day what he was seeing, but all he could observe was that he was watching an empty section in the garden.

"Akinobu looks like he's adjusting after everything, doesn't he?" Lord Ii broke the silence.

The medicine seller shifted his attention from watching the spirit of the fallen local lord standing by the plum trees to the red samurai standing off to the side, watching over the children playing. The samurai stood stiffly but his expression seemed rather pleasant and warm.

"He wished to commit ritual suicide, to clear his honor for his family," Lord Ii continued, "but I didn't feel that was something he needed to do. He was forced into the situation and nearly lost his life because of it." He watched Akinobu shift stiffly knowing that he still was healing that stomach wound beneath the layers of armor and fabric. Lord Ii still trusted the red samurai, wishing for him to stay at his side during the reparation and rebuilding.

"It's harder to live with what happened and make amends than simply to end it," Lord Ii added. "We both know this to be true."

"Humans are capable of terrible things," the medicine seller finally spoke.

"Isn't that the truth," Lord Ii agreed.

"But there are those capable of great good," the medicine seller added. "I do wonder how history will remember you."

Lord Ii glanced at the medicine seller, finding the slightest of grins tugging at his features. "You're an interesting one, you know that?"

"There's nothing interesting about me at all," he countered.

Lord Ii snorted a laugh. His statement was terribly ironic. _Everything_ about him was interesting. "Well, Mr. Uninteresting. I do wonder if we'll see each other again."

The medicine seller grinned, amused just thinking how many times Lord Ii would likely summon him with every bump in the night now that he'd seen a true mononoke and not just a litter of kittens.

"D-don't smile like that!" Lord Ii fussed. "I can't tell if that's a yes or a no!"

"I wonder," the medicine seller mused, turning a bit back towards the gardens. The dead local lord hadn't moved much, staying near the plum trees as he watched the people enjoying the gardens. Perhaps his spirit would stick around to guard over the gardens. Perhaps it would find peace and move on. Hard to say at this point.

He turned back to the living. Lord Ii had a good heart, even if it was constantly paranoid about everything. He couldn't quite blame the young lord after what had happened, but there was always a chance it would be more kittens underneath the balcony next time the young lord tried to summon him. "As long as mononoke enter the human world, I shall be there to find their truth, form, and reason."

"P-perhaps you'll just come by with some intriguing teas next time you're in the area," Lord Ii quickly suggested. "You know, instead of slaying mononoke or finding kittens under the balcony."

A slight smile tugged at his lips. "Perhaps I shall."

**...**

**Author's musings**

Thank you all for reading! Honestly I hadn't expected such a large turnout. When I first started writing this, I thought to myself "there'll be what 5 readers at most?" Boy was I wrong. I'm thankful for each and every kudo, bookmark, subscription, and comment. I wasn't expecting this, and I'm glad you all enjoyed this journey!

For now, it is ending, but only for now. Because of the overwhelmingly positive response, I'm currently working on a sequel. A new set of cases with a new theme and even weirder encounters. This type of tale takes quite a bit of time to weave, so it may be some time before a new tale shows up. Each story requires researching cultural aspects and unusual yokai, referencing legends and tales, weaving together terrible atrocities, and keeping them all different. Maybe Lord Ii will make a return. Please look forward to it!

As for this story. Oh boy, this was a fun one to create, finding the reasoning for a tatarimokke that wasn't typical. Originally this tale was written before the mahjong parlor, but it just felt like an ending tale. The characters are almost all color-coded and named accordingly.

\- Lord Ii. Not color-coded. His name essentially means good, a reference to his nature

\- Akinobu, the samurai in red. Aki means bright and shining, refering to the bright colors he wears and him being the one to bring the truth to light. Amusingly enough, aka (red) can also refer to a baby, and tatarimokke are often spirits of babies.

\- Kawa, the handmaiden in green. Kawa means river, and since blue and green are the same word in Japanese, a river can be green.

\- Momo, the younger handmaid. Momo means peach and is a reference to the fruit in the story

\- Hisamatsu and Samanosuke are both pretty typical samurai names

The idea of plums in a garden stems from the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo. They're pretty expansive and probably very pretty, if I ever managed to get there when they were blooming. Plum blossoms are also a symbol of rebirth, as they signal in when all the flowers are going to return after winter.

Thank you all again for reading! Until next time!


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